Russian Roulette
by Desertwolff
Summary: Corruption, underground societies, and forbidden love. Sanji learns all about it after getting involved with a bunch of determined people throughout an innocent date. Slowly, the hometown he claimed to know so well unveils a darker side of itself (of course the most unexpected thing was his newfound interest in Zoro). Modern, crime, real zosan halfway through the story
1. Nice to meet you

_Hello everyone!_

 _Welcome to my very first fanfiction ever :)_

 _I'm kind of new to this and thus would really love to hear your opinions on the story. If there's something you liked in particular or something that was really, really bad and made you leave the page without finishing the chapter, puhleasee comment below. I'd love to check out your stories as well, especially if they're Zoro related!_

Without further ado,

ENJOYY

* * *

There it is.

The sous-chef gazed up at the tacky wooden sign that read "Grand Café Sunny". It was exactly 5:46pm on a midwinter day and his fingers were freezing off. He was aching for a cigarette, the fact that he had a full pack in his pockets making it even harder to keep from lighting one.

Why wouldn't he?

Because tonight he had a date. A date with the most beautiful lady in the universe. The thought of it alone made his nostrils flare with excitement. But just then, a couple walked out the door followed by the loud music from inside. When they saw Sanji's face they shot him a weirded-out look. Sanji quickly composed himself and cleared his throat. The door closed and the music muted out. He was way too early to make sure that she wouldn't have to wait. Also, the others at the Baratie were still working so he would only be a nuisance if he stayed there. It didn't matter though. Now he had the time to check out the place in advance and reserve the best spot for them. So without second thought, he flung the door open and walked in.

The warmth quickly embraced him and his muscles eased up. Once again he drowned in the music and wondered how they were gonna be able to conversate with all the noise. The hallway was small and decorated with a series of framed pictures. As he checked out all the displays, his eyes fell on a logo of a jolly roger with a straw hat on. The caption read The Straw Hats. Sanji cringed at the lack of class. The place had now officially gone from tacky to hideous.

Further up was another door which probably lead to the dining hall. A rather bored-looking man was standing behind a stand, flipping through the pages of a comic book. The blond approached the man and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me."

The man looked up and clumsily closed the book.

"Oh, good evening, welcome to Grand Café Sunny." he responded. "How can I help you?"

"I reserved a table for 7:15 pm. The name is Sanji Vinsmoke."

He kept Sanji's gaze for a good three seconds and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Hold on. Let me check," he responded as he opened what seemed like a social media application. His name and time of reservation were sent.

While waiting for a response, Sanji had the chance to take a good look at the man. He had an induction cut and seemed to have a wireless earphone plugged in. The phone buzzed. The guy gave it a quick read-over and tucked the phone back.

"You're early."

"I know."

"An hour and 30 minutes," he pointed out with a raised brow.

"I was hoping to check out the place while I wait. Is that okay?"

"Fine by me. You can go on ahead and order at the bar."

"Thank you." He said and waited for the man to open the door. He soon realized that he'd have to open it himself, so he rolled his eyes and pushed through the second door.

A huge room unveiled itself and he was overwhelmed by the jubilant atmosphere of the crowd. The hall was at least three times bigger than it appeared on the front. The interior looked old school and was made out of mostly hardwood. Dimmed lights and no windows, probably because they were underground.

The room was filled with people of all sorts. From men around a table playing poker to a rich couple having a drink at the bar; everything. As much as he wanted to think of it as an 'inappropriate' place to have a first date… he kinda liked it. The ambience was welcoming and sucked out a lot of the unnecessary tension. A place to loosen up, no decorum required.

The bar existed of almost the entire right stretch of the hall and was run by only three bartenders. Sanji watched them go through a rush of orders, multitasking to get everything done as fast as possible. He watched for a while. Finally, one of the bartenders finished his last order and took a moment to catch his breath. It seemed to have slowed down. Being in the hospitality branch himself, Sanji knew exactly what they were going through.

He skipped down the steps and squeezed past a group of people chattering in the middle of the walkway. As he walked closer, he slowly realized the very amusing fact that the bartender's hair was _green_. He knew that very few people had extraordinary hair colors, but green? Was it okay to laugh? Probably not.

The blond pulled out a barstool and slumped down. The bartender was on it right away.

"Good evening. Can I take your order?"

"Hello. I will just have a water."

The man observed the blond from tip to toe and grinned.

"You look like you need a whiskey on the rocks. It'll be on the house."

Sanji glanced up at the bartender. It was a risky remark, but the man looked like he was just being attentive. Sanji snorted. He _did_ really feel like crap after a long day at work.

"No, thanks. I'm expecting someone. I don't want to leave a bad impression on her."

The green-haired man shrugged. "Still or sparkling?"

"Sparkling, please."

As the greenhead went to pour him his drink, Sanji opened his phone to find a message from Carne. They were talking about his date and Sanji had sent him a picture of her. Carne replied with a string of sultry emojis. Sanji grinned to himself. He knew his date was hot, but the extra attention he got from his colleagues stroke his ego some more.

.

After giving the guest his sparkling water, Zoro leaned back against the bar and folded his arms. The place was crowded, which was not unusual for a Friday evening, but still crowded. A firm hand on his shoulder gently scooted him over to reach for the bottle of rum on the shelf behind him. Zoro glanced over as Ace leaned back as well and slowly opened the lid, heaving an exhausted sigh.

"Damn, these people are a bunch of alcoholics."

"Table 16 again?"

"Yeah. This is his 7th cocktail already, and I made sure to put lots of rum in his glass last round."

Zoro glanced over at the table. Table 16 was a booth with a circular model. In the middle of the couch sat a bulky guy with a bald head and goatee, surrounded by lots of women.

"He looks like he can handle his liquor. I'd like to have a drinking competition with him sometime." Zoro grinned.

Ace who had already emptied the jigger into the cocktail thrice nodded in agreement.

"Let's have a drinking competition after work, this day's got to be compensated with some fun later on."

"You're on! Go tell Sabo about it."

"Dude, I'm working on the cocktail."

"Don't worry about the cocktail, I'm finishing it. He won't be able to stand after this one." he said as he pushed Ace away with his shoulder.

"Alright then. But wait until I get back, I want to see it before you serve it!" he called over his shoulder just before he disappeared into the kitchen.

"Gotta be fast then." Zoro murmured as a late response, being too focused on making the cocktail.

Sanji who had escaped from his vicious mental vortex of romance was now distracted by the cocktail making process behind the bar. He glanced at the Rolex watch around his wrist. Not even ten minutes had passed ever since he got in.

The greenhead tasted some of the cocktail with a straw. After tasting it thoughtfully, he didn't look convinced. He opened a drawer underneath the bar and started to rumble around in it. Sanji scooted over to the man.

"Try using the skin of an orange for its oils. They add the complexity you're looking for." he suggested.

The man looked up and raised his brows. "We think alike." he said as he pulled his hand out of the drawer and took out an orange. Sanji leaned his cheek onto his palm.

"Oh? I guess my help was not needed after all."

The man smiled softly to himself and continued on his drink. Sanji watched him peel off the skin with dexterous hands. The peel was evenly thick and didn't have too much of the white part on it. He pinched the peel sharply right above the drink and as the oils spurted out, he quickly caught the flame and the drink lit up. Sanji noticed the bulky man at table 16 glance over in interest.

The bartender wrapped it up by rubbing the peel around the rim of the glass and dropped it into the drink.

"Service!" he announced towards the group of waitresses who were chattering intensely in the middle of their shift. The most well-prioritized of the five sauntered over with a tray and placed it on the bar.

"What is it?"

"A rum old fashioned with a twist."

"What's the twist?"

"He'll know. He's been watching."

"Okay. Which table?"

"Table 16, the big and bulky man in the middle. Thanks," he said and pushed the drink forwards.

She carefully put the cocktail on the tray and walked to the table. Sanji watched her approach the table and hand the man his drink. The man looked pleased and a crooked smile danced on his face. He shot the bartender a grin and heaved his drink. The bartender gave him a thumbs up in return. Sanji observed the scene. Even though most of the people in here looked like criminals and seemed to have nothing in common, it was a very peaceful and happy place. It was truly mysterious how they managed to preserve the peace.

"So is it a hobby or profession?" he suddenly asked. It took Sanji a brief moment to catch up on the subject. Right, the bartending. He had zoned out.

"Uhm, a semi-profession would be closest."

The bartender opened the polishing machine and started polishing the wine glasses, keeping his gaze fixed on Sanji. He was expecting him to continue.

"I work at the Baratie in North Blue on the same street actually. I'm a sous-chef there."

"That's a fancy restaurant, isn't it?"

"You know it? We just got our second star last month. Everyone is in high spirits."

"Oh? Good for you. What are you doing in a place like this? It is not exactly what you'd call 'classy', you know."

"My date picked the location, she insisted on coming here. It's not what I expected at all, the ambiance is so welcoming."

"People usually get together here. It's a pretty popular place actually."

"It sure seems like it, the place is packed." Sanji answered absently. "Which is really funny by the way. I never realized that the place was this lively. Nor have I ever seen you or the other staff members. I pass here often during business."

"True, all staff members use the staff entrance in the back. We're not allowed to use the front door."

"Oh, right. same story at the place where I work. It's a pain."

"Doesn't really bother me, the back is much prettier anyway."

"Fair enough. You know, it's almost unbelievable to see all these people co-exist here. They are all so different. Isn't it strange?"

"Hmm, maybe. Your date is taking long by the way. Don't tell me you got skipped out on," he teased.

"She would never do that! I just came in earlier, that's all!" he slipped up, slightly embarrassed. The bartender chuckled, which made Sanji pout inwardly. The jerk seemed to enjoy getting a reaction out of him. He didn't want to get all worked up just an hour before an amazing date.

He frowned. What was up with the sudden change of subject anyway? Did he hit a sensitive spot?

"What time did you guys agree on?" he continued.

"7:15 pm."

"You're early."

"I know."

"One hour and 15 minutes?"

"I know!"

"Why?"

"I was going to find a nice table to sit at."

"Then go ahead."

Sanji's eyebrow twitched. "You don't have to tell me."

The blond pushed the stool back and grabbed his glass of water. Instead of actually walking around, he just analysed the space from at the bar. The place was big and it was quite a task to pick out a favorite spot. There was a nice two person's table behind the booth section, pretty private with nice lighting. Then there was also the booths, which were nice and spacious in case they wanted to get adventurous and order a whole buffet's worth of food. So hard to choose.

"Sanji-kun!"

Both Sanji and Zoro responded to the call. One with a melting heart and the other with a loud groan.

"Nami-swaaan!"

"You gold digger! I should've known it was you…"

The woman acted fake hurt. "What are you talking about?" she innocently said and seductively walked up to the bar. Although Nami was lightly amused with the remark, Sanji seemed to take it more personal.

"Watch your mouth, bastard."

The mood flipped around 180 degrees in that instant. Zoro shot Nami a glance, but she just blinked a few times and clicked her tongue; the remark came unexpected to both of them. Zoro turned back to the guest again.

"What was that?" Zoro tried, hardly concealing the threat in his voice.

"You don't talk to a lady like that. Also, watch your shitty language, dear Neanderthal."

Zoro scoffed. "I say the hell I want, curly brow."

Sanji's curly eyebrow twitched in annoyance. That was the first time someone dared to say that out loud and he didn't like it. Not at all.

"She's a witch who only loves money and you seem like one of those prissy men who can provide her with just that."

Sanji turned on his heel and threw an extremely fast kick towards Zoro's head. The kick was blocked just in time by Zoro's arm and a breeze from the fierce collision traveled past Nami's cheeks, who was only just realizing what had happened. The whole room slowly turned quiet as people noticed the fight. Before Nami could speak up, Zoro spoke up in a dangerously calm voice.

"Show this gentleman to the exit."

"Don't you threaten he— "

"Get rid of him, goddamnit!"

Sanji was about to blow, but Nami intercepted him in time.

"Sanji-kun!" She called strictly and Sanji visibly flinched "We're heading out."

"Sure…"

"You go on ahead, I'm right behind you." She told him. Sanji nodded and went on ahead, shooting Zoro one last glare. A tension hovered in the air between Nami and the bartender, who seemed to be wiping off the counter in a rather unnerved manner. The crowd awkwardly went back to their drinking and socializing.

"I'm—"

"You knew the rules," Zoro interrupted. "And you know damn well how important it is that we maintain them."

"I'm sorry..." she sincerely apologized.

Zoro sighed in defeat. It was already a miracle that she apologized in the first place. "Don't keep him waiting. Go some other place and have a great time." he waived off.

Nami smiled softly and nodded. Without a following response, she headed out. Zoro stared into the room, no particular spot, in an attempt to calm his mind.

"Hey, you served the cocktail! I told you to wait!" Ace whined as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Too damn late."

X.X.X.

A few hours passed and the employees were finishing off at the café. All the waitresses had left and were replaced by two new arrivals. These, however, were friends and they were here for some drinks. Sabo was polishing the glasses while Zoro took out the alcoholic beverages from the stand one by one and dusted off the bottles. Ace, who was wiping off the tables, noticed Nami's arrival first.

"Hey guys. Luffy, Usopp, you're early tonight."

"Ace said there was a party, so we came _extra_ early." Luffy grinned.

"Yeah, he forgot to tell me the last part though. I could have helped the old man out with cleaning up if I had known." Usopp added.

"Ahh, I see. How is business at the repair shop?" Nami asked as she took the glass of wine Sabo poured her.

"It's going really well. Lots of damaged vehicles are coming in lately."

"Life is good when the money flows~" Nami sing-songed. Her eyes drifted over to a grumpy looking Zoro. He sat atop of the bar, wiping the bottles with a scowl on his face. He hadn't even said hello to Nami nor did he look her in the eye. Nami scooted over and crossed her arms on the counter.

"Chivalry, he calls it." she said mischievously, trying to steal his attention. His movements stopped for a second and he frowned at her, until he picked up on the subject.

"Oh, take a walk," he replied with a roll of the eyes. "Chivalry my ass."

Nami laughed and swirled the wine. "Does everything I want him to though. Very trustworthy."

"Nami," Zoro said, suddenly with a serious countenance as he set the duster aside. She straightened up, knowing exactly where this was headed.

"You know the rules. How did this happen?"

She sighed. "Well, I didn't really get the chance to _tell_ him about the rules. I wanted to do so once we met at the entrance, but he was already inside when I got here. I assumed Yosaku must have enlightened him."

"You mean he didn't?" Ace joined.

"I guess. Sanji doesn't seem like the kind who would break the rules if he had known."

Zoro exchanged looks with Ace and pressed a button on his earphone. "Hold on, let me call him," he said and put it on speaker.

"I hate this post, please tell me you're calling to relieve me from this job," came the first sentence.

"Well, your lack of focus is jeopardizing our safety."

The other side of the line went silent for a good three seconds.

"What are we talking about?"

"Someone came in uninformed. Are you dozing off over there?"

"Huh? I only let one person pass without the standard procedure lecture. The guy was with Nami."

"Nami wasn't with him when he came in."

"I know, I assumed she must have told him already, just like she does with all her other patients. You know, a few days ahead."

Zoro peeked up at Nami. She raised her shoulders and pouted. "It was kind of a last minute date…"

Zoro wiped his face with his other hand, obviously exhausted from the drama. "Miscommunication. Never again."

"Understood," Yosaku confirmed and ended the call.

A silence followed. Eventually, Zoro frowned.

"He called them freaking patients." Ace pointed out, totally in sync with what Zoro was thinking.

"In a really casual way." Sabo finished off.

"Too funny," Zoro smirked. "Anyway, how was the date?" changing the subject. Nami immediately lit up.

"Very nice actually. We really hit it off. He also apologized for earlier. Pretty sure he still thinks you're an ass though. But overall, nice patient," the redhead said with a playful wink as she leaned over the bar and grabbed a broom.

"Good! Hey, guys. Drinks in T minus 15 minutes!" Ace announced as he turned the volume of the music up.

"Let's have the place wrapped up by that time!" Sabo motivated.

"Ok, go, go, go!" Luffy said and went to grab a towel himself.

"Luffy, you can't help!" Nami scolded.

"Mehh~" he whined but sat down anyway.

Exactly 15 minutes later, the whole place was tidy and the hard workers – except for Yosaku who went home straight away like he usually did – were gathered at the bar for the drinking competition.

"Nami is winning again!" Luffy cheered as she downed her 14th beer.

"It has just begun, what are you talking about!" Ace corrected.

"It's a gut feeling, I just know she is gonna win!"

Usopp laughed and reached over Luffy's legs for the bottle of red wine, which apparently only had a drop left. Very generous.

"No way! You finished it all, Luffy!"

"Eh? Nami said red wine goes well with meat so I drank all the red wine and ate all the meat," he said, hiccupping in between words.

"Underaged people are not supposed to finish a bottle, I haven't had a sip of that!"

"Here, drink this if you're a real man," Sabo said and threw a bottle over to Usopp. He caught it just in time.

"Ooooh, tequila!" Ace whistled.

"Chug! Chug! Chug!" Luffy chanted.

"W-wait a minute."

"Ahw, you're not backing out now, are you?" Luffy pouted. "Laaame."

"No! The great captain Usopp n-never turns down a challenge! Let me tell you about that one time when I—"

"Great! Chug! Chug! Chug!" Luffy cut off as he shoved a glass into long nose's hand and poured an overly generous amount of tequila into the beer mug.

"That's not even the right glass for tequila..." he mused terrified.

Everyone laughed as Usopp stared into the glass as if it was bearing a sea monster that could jump out any moment. Zoro amusingly clashed his glass against Usopp's shaking cup.

"Cheers, man," he snorted. The color drained from Usopp's face.

And just then, the door rang.

"Oh, let me get that!" Usopp offered gratefully with tears in his eyes and dashed out of the main hall.

"Booo!" Luffy yelled.

"Who is that anyway? Are we expecting someone?" Sabo frowned.

"Could be Shanks," Luffy suggested.

"Why would Shanks use the front door?" Nami pointed out smartly. No one really knew.

Usopp came back alone. "Uhm, Nami? It's for you."

"Oh, hold on." She drank the last of her drink and changed places with Usopp. As Nami vanished around the corner, Ace was the first to speak up.

"Who is it?"

"Do you guys know anyone by the name Sanji?"

Zoro's eyebrow twitched at the mention. They were having a great time and now the little shithead had to bug in? He better not try anything funny again, because this time Zoro was off work and has had a few drinks.

"Sanji was Nami's date of today." Ace explained.

Shortly after, Nami stuck her head around the door. "Zoro?" she called and everybody's curiosity was peaked.

Zoro suspiciously narrowed his eyes at her. She noticed and was already feeling disheartened about asking. "He wants to talk to you."

"Hell no, we're having drinks."

"I believe he wants to apologize, it'll really just take a minute."

"No."

"Zoro, please. Do it for me."

Zoro opened his mouth to protest, but ended up giving in with a groan. After snatching Usopp's drink and chugging it down all at once (stress relief), he reluctantly made for the door. Usopp thanked his lucky stars when he saw his drink go.

As Zoro was about to brush past Nami through the small middle-door, she grabbed his arm. He stopped in his tracks. When she didn't speak up, he raised his brows.

"What's the matter?"

She took a moment to consider her approach. "Sanji and I… well… we decided to give it a try."

Zoro's eyes widened. "You what?!"

"I just— it's complicated. I'll explain another time."

"It must be really complicated if you choose to date a guy who's not even your type!"

She shook her head to prevent herself from going along with the conversation. "Just please be kind to him."

Zoro groaned again. This had to be one of the worst ways an otherwise awesome Friday night could have turned out. He hated to act fake. He put his hand on the doorknob that led to the cold outside.

"You owe me one," he said and received a hopeful nod from Nami.

The bartender turned the knob and stepped outside. Sanji was just down the steps, leaning against the wall and smoking a cigarette. Zoro gently closed the door behind him and cleared his throat.

"I didn't think you'd show up," Sanji commented with a grin.

"What do you want, curly brow."

That immediately put the cook back into defensive mode and he almost bit through the cigarette, but he quickly gathered himself. A heavy sigh rolled off his lips.

"Look, Nami and I want to give it a shot. And today she told me that you matter a lot to her. I don't exactly know what your role is in her life, but I figured that it would make it a lot easier for her if we at least tried to get along. That is if she matters as much to you as you matter to her," he finished off.

Zoro scanned the blonde's face. The guy was actually trying to make it work. Another thing that surprised him was what Nami apparently said about him. She always seemed to be much more honest about the way she felt about others when they were not around. To hear her say that she cared about him a lot was something he rarely heard coming out of her mouth. Zoro shifted legs and crossed his arms.

"If it makes you feel better; Nami and I share a brother-sister bond. She's been around ever since I can remember. Vice versa. But you should know that if you ever lay as much as a finger on her, you're fucking done for. I don't take that shit well," he threatened.

"Dear mosshead, I'd make a much better gentleman than you'd ever do. You might as well stop worrying about her well-being while in my care."

The term 'mosshead' didn't really land well with the bartender, but he let it slide this once.

"It does make me feel better though. I was already wondering how you guys were related."

"So that's all?" Zoro said, wanting to go back inside already. Sanji exhaled the smoke.

"I came to apologize, so that's what I'm gonna do. I'm sorry about starting a fight at the café."

"You better be," Zoro replied.

"Excuse me? You were at fault too! You not gonna apologize?!"

"How was I at fault?! You are the one who attacked me!"

"Because you were being a brute!"

"I told you I have known Nami for a long time! She can take it!"

"I don't care, you don't talk to a lady like that!"

Zoro pulled up his sleeves. "Oh, you wanna fight?!"

"Bring it, mosshead," he challenged and raised his leg.

Before it could escalate into an actual fight, the door opened and there stood Nami. The two gentlemen quickly straightened up and put on an innocent face. The second Nami stepped out, a chill ran up her spine and she folded her arms.

"Jeez, it's cold out here. Are you guys done yet?"

" _ACE WON! USOPP TAPPED OUT!"_ came enthusiastically from inside. Nami rolled her eyes. Did Usopp even try…

"Usopp is blowing it for our team in there. You're up next, Zoro. Come back in after you finish up. And maybe…" she started hesitantly and looked from Sanji to Zoro. "If you want…"

She really wanted to invite Sanji too, but wasn't sure about how Zoro would deal with that. Especially when all she earned was an arched brow from him, so she just shrugged it off.

"Anyway, I'm going back in," she said and closed the door.

Once inside, she leaned against the door and stared at the floor.

"You've been acting really strange lately," came a voice. Nami jerked her head up in surprise. There stood Ace, just a few feet away.

"Ace… you startled me."

"What's bothering you, Nami?" he said gently.

Nami scoffed and forced a toothy smile. "What are you talking about?"

Ace wasn't buying it and just waited out as her smile was slowly starting to waver until it reached the point where it was completely gone and replaced by a pair of sad eyes. She sighed and held her own arms tightly.

"I've noticed that you've holding back lately. Not as expressive as you usually are. Am I right?"

"I guess it's obvious."

"Not really. No one else seemed to have noticed."

She diverted her eyes. On the background, they could hear Zoro and Sanji once again having a heated argument about _exactly nothing_. As Nami didn't look like she was about to say anything, Ace decided to skip to the next chapter of the conversation.

"If this is about Zoro, I think I can help."

Nami stiffened at the dead-on assumption. She was starting to feel anxious all of a sudden. How was Ace so perceptive? Her desire, however, to share a problem and have someone listen to her and help out was now stronger and she really was starting to feel unhappy. It might be best if she just reached out for Ace's hand, who was more than willing to help.

"I just feel like I'm losing him," she said slowly.

Time seemed to slow down and she peeked up at Ace, searching for a reason to stop telling him the rest of the story, but she found none. He was listening and only concentrated on her, so she continued.

"He's been really distant lately. I know he's not all that talkative in the first place, but we used to just do our own thing in each other's presence. He would work out and I would be working on my maps a few feet away which was enough for me. But he's making excuses lately to not have to stick around and instead I find him in another room by himself or surrounded by his friends. Just everywhere except with me. I just feel so abandoned. It's different from getting into a fight with him. All it takes is time and compromise to get out of those. But this… It feels like we're growing apart after so many years for no apparent reason and the fact that I don't know why it's happening is really bothering me. Almost as—"

"Nami."

She stopped her ramble and breathed heavily.

"Zoro has a few things on his mind recently. His natural response is to isolate himself, completely subconscious however. He is so invested in his own thoughts that he doesn't even realize that he is pushing you away. If you tell him what's bothering you, you can help him too. He would never intentionally hurt you."

"You don't think it's a petty complaint?"

"No way. If that's the way you feel, then there's nothing you can do about that. You're a sensitive person by nature. Just like any other trait, it has its pro's and cons."

Nami smiled. A huge weight had been taken off her shoulders.

"So… what's bothering him so much lately?"

"Nothing serious, he'll get over it. It's just a period." Ace lied smoothly. Nami seemed to buy it though, that must mean he's a professional liar starting now. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing and he felt a little guilty for doing so.

"Come on, let's go in before those drunks tear down the place." He finished off with a grin and turned into the direction of the bar.

"Those idiots…" Nami smiled as she caught up to Ace's side and they walked back together.

When they reached the bar and grabbed their seats, the middle-door opened and Zoro quietly walked inside, followed by a blonde man still unfamiliar to some. They walked over to the bar in awkward silence. Everyone's attention was on the duo. Nami's face softened and a small smile appeared on her lips. Even though they weren't so fond of each other and all they did was argue, Zoro still invited him in and Sanji was behaving really well. Ace was grinning widely upon seeing them come in together and when Nami met his eyes, he winked at her.

"Oh by the way," Zoro started and reluctantly extended his hand to Sanji, "my name is Zoro."

Sanji eyed the hand with a mental grimace. He wasn't gonna be the immature one in this situation, his Nami-swan was watching after all. He locked hands with the marimo and forced a friendly smile.

"Sanji. Nice to meet you."


	2. Threats

_Helloo, here we have chapter numero. 2!_

 _I got some feedback on my first post saying that it was a little stilted. After re-reading it I agreed that the flow wasn't very natural. I tried to loosen up a little. Hope it worked :)_

 _Also, the idea of finding a beta-reader really appeals to me. If you deem yourself a good one, hit me up :P_

* * *

The next day, Sanji woke up with a slight headache. He recalled yesterday and how many beers he had. When he didn't come further than the count of 5, he clicked his tongue.

"Shitty tolerance..." he murmured as he slid off the bed to brush his teeth.

The night before had been surprisingly pleasant. It wasn't nearly as bad as he had anticipated when he was waiting in front of the door for the marimo to show up. The conversation was rough as expected, but once they were inside, they all just heaved their glasses and had a good time.

Apparently, Luffy, Ace, and Sabo were brothers and lived with a guy named Shanks on the other side of town. The three of them visited a lot and Sabo and Ace worked at the Sunny to help their friends out with the business. The business was run by Nami and Zoro alone, which was kind of unexpected. Surely Nami was extremely clever and organized, but Zoro didn't really cope with his image of a businessman… Usopp was a friend they knew throughout high school, and ever since, they just stuck together.

After brushing his teeth, he grabbed a cup of coffee and went to the balcony for his morning cigarette. As he slid the glass door open an ice cold breeze assaulted him and his pyjamas, but he was lighting a cigarette no matter what.

When he took his first hit, a car pulled over. It was Patty's car. A not so good sounding clatter came from down the balcony and Sanji leaned over the railing to see Patty struggle with the key slot of the Baratie.

"Oi, wait up shithead! You're gonna break the key." Sanji yelled. Patty jumped up at the notice of a second presence.

"Yeah, yeah. Just hurry up, it's freezing outside."

"Wimp..."

"I heard that!" Patty growled.

As Sanji sauntered down the flight of stairs, he suddenly realized that the old man was not in the living room. The door to his bedroom was open and he wasn't in there either. That's weird, he always informs him before heading out.

He turned the doorknob and was immediately attacked by Patty's ranting.

"I'm not a wimp!" he spat. Sanji squinted his eyes when some of Patty's spit landed on his cheek. What was he thinking... standing so close to this idiot? He wiped his cheek with his pyjama sleeve and groaned. Too early in the morning to distribute kicks.

"Learn to control your saliva before I fire your ass. You better not serve that to our guests." Sanji said wearily. Patty raised a brow.

"Do you have a hangover? You look shitty."

Sanji's eyebrow twitched. "Get your lazy ass inside and WORK!" he roared and kicked the man into the kitchen.

Half an hour later, he showed up in the kitchen looking on point as always.

"Oi, Sanji! I made you French toast. Figured you didn't have breakfast yet." Patty announced while he moulded the scones.

Sanji eyed the plate on the counter. "Thanks."

"So what're you up to today? Seeing as you have a day off with no friends."

"Shut up! I was thinking about visiting the Sunny to see Nami-san." He replied and started eating away.

"So things are going well between you two."

"Yes."

"Did you guys take it to the next level yet?"

Sanji chuckled. A subtle stream of red leaked from his flared nose. Patty grimaced at the typical picture.

"Just go back to having a hangover already..."

Sanji wiped his nose. "Anyways, no. Nothing yet. She wants to take it slow, so that's how we're gonna do it."

"Can't believe you found a girlfriend first..." Patty murmured. Sanji put the plate into the sink and wiped his mouth.

"By the way, do you know where my old man took off to?"

"Oh, right! I forgot to tell you. He told me last night he had some business to take care of."

"What kind of business?"

"He didn't say. Just said that he'd be out of town for a few days ."

"Should I be worried?"

"I don't know. You know what he's like. He doesn't bother us with his problems."

"That old geezer is so stubborn." Sanji sighed and tightened his tie. "Anyway, that's all I needed to know. Nami-swan must be missing me so much! I hope she's not crying!"

"Yeah, right. Take it easy with that silly hangover of yours."

"It ain't silly! I drank some real strong shit back there!" He justified in spite of himself.

Just as he stepped outside into the snow, his phone buzzed. A message from his beloved Nami-san.

' _ **Use the back door when you get here. Yosaku is still in a bad mood.'**_

She knew he was coming after all. Was he that predictable? He smiled inwardly.

X.X.X

Back at the Sunny, the crew was already starting up the café. Ace was getting the bar started by himself and the waitresses set up the tables and put out the menu's.

Zoro was lifting weights in the backyard when he heard the gate clatter. Curiosity peaked, he finished his count and walked over to check it out when a streak of creative curses reached his ears. Zoro nonchalantly opened the door and came face to face with a pouting Sanji. He raised his brow at him in an irritated manner.

"Are you trying to destroy the gate now?"

"Nami told me to use the back door so I figured it would be open." He sneered back for his predictable reception.

"If you weren't so weak."

"Or maybe the gate was trying to warn me for the retard I'd find behind it."

Zoro lifted the weight in his hand. "Don't make me smash your delusional head with it."

"As if you can..." he rolled his eyes and brushed past him. Why did this encounter feel like karma from this morning so much?

The first thing he noticed was how spacious the backyard actually was. Everything was coated in snow, but he was sure that it would look lovely during warmer seasons. There was a hedge, cherry blossom tree, and some tangerine trees. It even had a training field with three makiwara's lined up. On the ground next to it lay two heavy weights. Sanji glanced at Zoro who was distractedly looking around.

"Are you training out here?"

"Huh? Yeah. Why do you care?"

Sanji stated the obvious. "It's freezing outside."

"I ain't no wimp," he snorted. Sanji's lip twitched.

"I wasn't implying that it's too cold for me! I was just saying that you don't look like you can handle the cold!" he retorted.

"I am at least ten times tougher than you are, skinny blonde!"

"Who are you calling skinny, musclehead?!"

" _Musclehead?!_ You wanna fight?!"

"That's about all you can do as a muscle head, right? Bring it on!"

"Would you two… _CUT IT OUT?!_ " came a bellow which was soon followed by a fist to their heads. Both Zoro and Sanji squirmed on the ground and held their throbbing heads.

"Nami-swan... I'm sorry!"

"Oi! What was that for!" Zoro complained as he got up. Nami crossed her arms.

"For making a scene! Try to get along, will you?!"

Zoro crossed his arms. "Che... As if."

Sanji was quick to get up as well. "Nami my dear, shall we go inside? I would love to see the place," he suggested as he gracefully took her hand and slightly bowed his head.

Zoro grimaced at the cheesy scene in front of him.

"Of course, Sanji-kun," she agreed. She directed her attention back to Zoro and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You. Get ready. We're opening in half an hour and you're dirty. Go take a shower."

"You don't have to tell me what to do," he scowled.

Nami shot him a strange look and walked off to give Sanji a tour. Zoro frowned. What was that look? Did she look sad just now? Perhaps he imagined it.

X.X.X.

An hour into the shift, Zoro walked through the swing doors of the kitchen and met Ace at the bar.

"Yo, Zoro!"

"Hey, man," Zoro replied as he fumbled with his bow tie. He hated them. They were too tight around his neck. Ace gave him an empathetic look.

"You ready for date night?" he grinned as he tapped 6 beers in a row. Zoro pulled up his sleeves.

"Don't really care for them. Did I miss something?"

"Not really. Same as always. I can't flirt with the ladies on date night," he sighed regretfully.

Zoro laughed. "We should stop hiring you for date nights. You'll ruin the mood with that grumpy face of yours."

"Mr. stoic face is being a hypocrite." Ace teased.

"Hey, where is Sabo?"

"In the back preparing a sgroppino. You must have passed him in the kitchen."

"Oh, man. I didn't even see him."

"You must have a lot of worries on your mind," Ace joked.

"Right," Zoro snorted. "However, I was thinking about something the other day."

Ace raised a brow. "Whatever could that be?"

"Have you noticed anything odd about Nami? Like how she suddenly chose to date that Sanji. He isn't even her type."

"I don't know about that dating thing. You know her better than I do. But I do sense something odd about her behavior. It might be related. Why don't you talk to her?"

"I was going to. Well, _she_ was gonna talk to me about it, but I guess she forgot or something. I'll just ask her tonight," he shrugged.

"There you go. Is it bothering you?"

"Not really, Nami can take care of herself."

Ace chuckled. Conversations like these were always quickly over when Zoro was included. He was already wrapping it up, but Ace remembered his talk with Nami last night and wasn't giving up yet.

"And you have no idea what might be causing her to act this way?"

"Beats me. I never understood women anyway."

Ace sighed in defeat. "You sure don't."

"Speaking of the devil."

Ace turned to follow Zoro's gaze. Nami and Sanji walked into the diner and sat down at a table. They happily waved at the two bartenders. Ace grinned and Zoro just smiled briefly.

He watched as the waitress approached them and took their orders. It took really long. Sanji was explaining something to her with wild gestures. The waitress wrote swiftly to keep track of the order. Zoro scowled. If Sanji was deliberately ordering crazy shit just to piss him off, he was gonna pour salt into his drink. But when the girl walked to the bar and handed Zoro the order, he was surprised to see what it was.

There was a lot of scribbling on the paper, but the whole upper part was crossed out and replaced with a few words on the very bottom of the page.

 _ **2 x rum old fashioned with a twist**_

"He said you'd know what he meant," the girl explained.

"Hell yeah," Zoro grinned and got to work.

It was such a simple drink, but so satisfying. Smokey, sweet, spicy, bitter and refreshing all at the same time. Nami was a heavy drinker, so she wouldn't have a problem with all the alcohol. Blondie, on the other hand, tapped out really soon last night. Zoro smirked. He always knew Sanji was a wimp.

Ace had nothing to do so he observed the cocktail-making process. Sabo also came out of the kitchen, a sgroppino on his tray and looking very annoyed. Ace spotted him and laughed out loud.

Sabo always got the sgroppino orders and those things took a hell lot of time to make.

"Hey, Zoro," Sabo said.

"Yo," Zoro said absent-mindedly as he lit up the drink, grabbing Sabo's attention at the same time.

"Isn't that the drink you made for the guy at table 16 yesterday?"

"Yeah. Simple, right?"

Ace nodded. "Very nice though."

"I'm drinking five of those tonight if I get _one_ more sgroppino order," Sabo growled. Ace peeked at Zoro and when Zoro returned the glance, they broke out in a fit.

The drinks were delivered and Nami and Sanji looked pleased. He even got an appreciative smile from Sanji. That was something unheard of, but he managed a small smile in return. Zoro could be nice sometimes.

All of a sudden, Zoro froze. So did the other two bartenders.

The earphone bleeped thrice in his ear. That meant only one thing, _trouble._ The device screeched and a voice followed:

" _Code 6, message to all units! This is Robin. Government official detected at the entrance. Name is Fullbody. Watch for pink, medium length hair. White striped suit and light blue shirt. Tanned skin and diagonal scar on right cheek. Internal topics are to be avoided. If inevitable, redirect to the bar. The senior employees will then take care of the situation. Please confirm."_

Zoro discretely reached for his earphone and scanned his fingerprint on the back-end to confirm the message. The other employees did the same. The bartenders exchanged alarmed looks. They even caught Nami tense up slightly and adjust her posture in her seat.

There was a freaking government official here. What is someone of that caliber doing at a grand café?!

After a few moments, the earphone sounded again. This time only one bleep, however.

"All units confirmed. Proceed according to code 6. Over and out."

The next time the door swung open, all employees peaked. There he stood; a man who fit the description flawlessly. Zoro gave the man a once-over and grimaced. Robin forgot to add that he looked conceited as hell. Someone who steals lollipops from little children and throws banana peels in front of your feet... yeah, that sounded about right.

They noticed however that he was not alone. Out of the doorway appeared a pretty young lady in a sleek red dress. Seeing as Robin didn't mention her, she was probably not a threat. He led her to a table and they were immediately accommodated by their best waitress, Lynn. Zoro approved of the choice of action. The waitress pretended to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and pressed the conference button on the earphone.

One bleep sounded and the employees could follow the conversation. Right now Zoro was in charge, so if anything happened, he was to step in.

" _Good evening, sir, ma'am,"_ Lynn greeted.

" _Good evening. I want to see the menu."_ Fullbody snapped his fingers.

" _Sure, here you go,"_ she said and handed them the thin book. The woman calmly read the menu. She didn't look conceited at all. Fullbody however quickly found something to complain about.

" _I don't like any of the cocktails on the menu. How do you serve a Boulevardier here?"_

" _Uhm... Could you specify that for me?"_

" _What's there to specify? I'm asking what's in the cocktail."_

" _I'm sorry, sir, I'm afraid I don't know what a Boulevardier is..."_

" _You're a servant here, how can you not know? Everyone knows what a Boulevardier is!"_

Fullbody's date cleared her throat and joined the conversation.

" _Actually, I don't know what that is. Could you describe it for me, dear?"_ she asked with an apologetic smile to Lynn.

" _B- but darling, SHE is the waitress. I want you to have a wonderful night, but you can't if the waitress is not doing her job properly! Do they hire dogs too here?!"_

Zoro scoffed. What a jerk. He noticed that Lynn was in distress, so he held the conference button.

"To receptor 8, this is Zoro. Lynn, send him to the bar. Good work."

The girl visibly relaxed and kindly asked Fullbody to order at the bar for detailed explanations and personalized drinks. She even threw a little compliment in there for Zoro. Thankfully, he seemed to comply. Zoro turned on his conference function for mainly Nami to follow, Ace and Sabo were closeby after all. A few moments later the pink haired man appeared at the bar with a sickening smirk plastered on his face. Zoro tried his best to keep a friendly face.

"Good evening, sir. How can I help you?" came a verrrry fake, but oh-so unintentional greeting. The fakeness even surprised Zoro himself a little. Ace snorted behind his fist and earned himself a kick on the shin by Sabo.

The man gave Zoro a denigrating look and rolled his eyes.

"Same opening sentence over again. You people have no feeling for creativity."

Zoro's lip twitched. "I'm a creature of habit."

"You appear to be. Anyway, I'm here to order a drink. You see, there's a beautiful lady waiting for me at the table and your waitress in worthless. Also, her ugly face is making me lose my appetite. Make me your best drink!" he ordered.

The two bartenders fell silent along with Zoro. That remark was truly mean and the poor girl was probably listening along on the conference call.

"Coming up..." Zoro murmured under his breath. He took out two cocktail glasses and started on the drinks. Fullbody scrutinized his every move and it was really getting on Zoro's nerves. If it would not have been a government official he would have put him to sleep the moment he was in arm range. Zoro slid the drinks across the bar. The bastard was obviously looking for something to bitch about. He picked one of the glasses up and took a generous gulp. After pretending to be deep in thought he took another gulp until there was only the bottom layer remaining.

"That tastes gross! I want a substitute!"

Zoro gritted his teeth, he was fuming. The receptor bleeped.

" _Zoro, don't be impulsive. He's provoking you,"_ came Nami's voice. Nami? Zoro looked over at the table she was supposed to sit at. She was nowhere to be seen, probably left to join the conference and left a very confused looking Sanji at the table. Sanji and Zoro locked eyes. When Sanji stood up and walked towards the bar, Zoro's eyes slightly widened. He did definitely _not_ mean to invite him over! Sabo caught the interaction and quickly called Sanji over before he could meddle with the two. Zoro inhaled deeply and answered the asshole in front of him.

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't give you a substitute since you already drank most of the drink."

"I only tasted it, are you blind or something?"

Sanji's attention was peaked upon hearing the complaint and obvious insult towards Zoro. Sabo quickly waved a hand in front of his face and laughed awkwardly, rambling on about some beautiful ladies he once met to distract the cook. But it didn't work on the ero-cook the very moment you need it to work.

"I saw it. The rules however state that we are not allowed to substitute or give a refund after the glass is half empty. I can make you something better though to make up for it?"

"Yes, but I want it for free."

"You have to unders—"

"Unfortunately, I don't! I'm the guest! I'm the one who is paying you so I am the king here. Make me a substitute. FOR FREE."

A few other guests turned at the sudden outburst, feeling slightly annoyed and cautious. Oh, damn.

"Sir, you will have to lower your voice. Otherwise, I will have to send you away and that would be a shame."

"Send _me_ away?" he repeated mischievously and leaned in closer. The mood considerably dropped in temperature that instant. His aura completely changed from ' _obnoxious'_ to ' _dangerous & super obnoxious_'. It was obvious the man had been waiting for this moment. Zoro didn't answer.

"You see, you _have_ to make me a free drink." He took out his phone and unlocked it. "Because I have a video that I can most likely send _you_ away with. You know, fighting in the café and all…"

Zoro's eyes grew big as the video played Zoro and Sanji's fighting scene from the night before. The other bartenders and Sanji stiffened as well.

"So what's it gonna be? Another drink or bankruptcy?" he demanded. Sanji jerked up from his seat, but Sabo grabbed him firmly by his upper arm, bringing him back to his senses. He broke the rules once, but not twice.

Zoro glared at Fullbody, but the sick man's grin only widened. The man had Zoro trapped. The latter sighed.

"What can I make you?" he said reluctantly and pinched the bridge of his nose. He really had to bite back a dangerous growl.

Zoro made the man his drink and the man shot Zoro a last challenging smirk before turning around and walking back to his table. The men at the bar were left there in defeat. Zoro's grip on the hardwood tightened and he almost crumbled the edge of the counter, but Ace put a firm hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, regaining some of his self-control. Zoro blew out some air.

"That bastard."

"I know," Ace replied.

"We're so screwed."

Sanji was just sitting there, left with two heavy feelings. The aggravating feeling of injustice and the suffocating feeling of guilt. He parted his lips and closed them again.

"I…" he started. Sabo and Ace turned to Sanji. Zoro, on the other hand, stared dead ahead, body tense with anger and glaring a black hole into the universe. Sanji wasn't sure about his timing but decided to finish his sentence.

"I'm sorry," he said and flinched when the edge of the counter suddenly cracked under the pressure of Zoro's grip.

"Zoro!" Ace urged and then a bleep sounded. It was Nami. She had caught up on the grim atmosphere.

" _Zoro, good job dealing with the officer. Now go change and call it a day. I'm letting you leave early tonight."_

Ace and Sabo received the message as well and tapped him on the back.

"Nicely done," Sabo said.

"See ya," Ace added.

He left the bar with a silent 'see ya' and vanished into the kitchen. Sanji frowned at the scene. What the hell was that, he just took off? Did he miss something?

A few seconds later Nami appeared out of the kitchen. She went for Sanji with an apologetic look on her face.

"Sanji-kun. I'm sorry I took so long, but I gotta call it a day. Can we resume our dinner some other time?"

Sanji got to his feet. "Sure… Are you okay, Nami-san?" he asked slightly worried. She nodded with a soft smile and kissed him on the cheek.

"See you tomorrow," she finished. His heart summersaulted in his chest.

"Yes, Nami-swaan!" he exclaimed in glee.

When she disappeared into the kitchen, Sanji turned to the remaining two bartenders and took out his wallet.

"I'm sorry guys for causing so much trouble," he apologized sincerely.

"Don't worry about it. There's no way you could have known," Sabo smiled.

"Things like that happen," Ace finished.

"Zoro seems to think otherwise," Sanji pointed out.

"Zoro is just extremely frustrated is all. The place is kind of his responsibility you know."

"He's really serious about it, isn't he?"

"Well, he loves this place. It inhibits a lot of memories for him. Both happy and sad," Ace answered. Sanji wanted to pry some more, but it felt really personal and wrong, especially since Zoro wasn't here to explain it himself. So he left it at that.

"I see. I would like to pay then."

"Don't worry about it. It's been a messy evening. The waitress will wrap the meal up for you so you can eat it later."

Sanji looked over his shoulder. He really didn't like to waste any food, so he nodded. Ace gestured one of the waitresses over and instructed her. Meanwhile, an idea popped up in Sanji's mind.

"Hey, Sabo. I was thinking that maybe you guys could come over for dinner upcoming Wednesday. All of you. The food we serve is quite good even if I say so myself," he suggested with a confident grin.

"Now that you mention it, we've never been to your place. Sounds fun!"

"Oh, a party?" Ace butted in as he handed Sanji his meal in a to-go box. Sanji took it gratefully and smiled.

"You can call it that. We have lots of booze too. It's all on the house of course."

"Hell yeah," Ace beamed and they waved Sanji off.

X.X.X

In the backyard, Zoro had gone back to training. Only this time, he tripled the weights and was really aiming to go numb.

Nami had her hand on the doorknob and was watching through the window. She knew that he was barely approachable now. She felt even more uncomfortable knowing that it was her who brought Sanji to the Sunny. She was at fault and he was surely going to lash out at her. Nami wasn't ready for that. For some unknown reason, she turned the doorknob anyway.

Zoro seemed unbothered and continued lifting, but Nami knew he was aware of her presence and shifted awkwardly.

"I'm gonna keep him away from the sunny for now." she started. "Sanji I mean."

"Okay," came his cold answer.

"I thought maybe you didn't want him around," she said slowly. Zoro put down his weights and sighed. She obviously missed the point.

"Nami, I don't care what idiot you choose to be with. That is your choice. But you don't even love this person _and_ he is causing us trouble," he scolded. "How is that worth it?"

"Sanji is a great guy. It was just an unfortunate situation. If we just tell him the rules he won't be causing more trouble, I'm sure of it."

"Why all the trouble for just a _great_ guy? We both know that you love someone else."

"Because Sanji is really compassionate and a great support, unlike you!"

"It sounds to me like you're using h— Wait, what?! How is this about _me_?!"

Nami clutched her head in frustration. "Uggh, never mind. You wouldn't understand it anyway."

That hit Zoro like a boulder to his pride and he tried to keep a straight face. Was she implying that he is stupid?

"You said that we would talk about this..." he reminded her.

"I promise that we'll talk about this some other time, but not now. It seems that we have more pressing matters at hand."

Zoro raised a brow, taking a moment to process his surprise. "Well, what do you know. You didn't lose sight of your priorities after all."

"Of course not. This place is our home, right?" she smiled. A smile that Zoro gladly returned. He sighed.

"So what do we do? I have a bad feeling about all of this."

"I already made a plan B for when such a situation would occur," Nami confessed with a playful wink.

"You wanna take them head on?"

"NO. Fighting is a last resort. Not everyone is a monster like you guys."

X.X.X

Sanji dropped the bag on the coffee table and crouched down on the couch, reaching for the remote. Putting on the tv had become a habit. The white noise was a perfect way to not feel entirely alone when in fact, he was. Zeff was still out of town and everyone else had left already. Now was a good time to reflect. He laced his fingers together and stared at the TV that was playing a cooking show of some sort.

So there was a guy threatening the grand café with a video that wasn't all hard evidence. In fact, what Zoro did is called self-defense. Either the fact that people in this district are crazy was true, or that evidence might really be as disturbing as the man made it out to be. Now that he thought about it, Zoro looked kind of nervous when that man threw in the video, and he doesn't seem like the kind to fret over small things. Maybe laws were different in the East Blue after all.

Sanji picked up the laptop on the shelf underneath the coffee table and flipped it open. The World Government website always contained information about this sort of thing. He typed the link with rapid movements of the fingers and searched the website. He quickly stumbled upon an awfully long page, the page where all the laws of the East-Blue were described. He opened the to-go bag and started on his meal. This was gonna be a long night...


	3. Add a Punk

_Previously: government official Fullbody visited the Sunny and threatened to shut the place down. The news especially didn't land well with Zoro, who was fuming, so Nami talked to him about it and confessed that she was already planning something. Sanji, on the other hand, felt guilty and decided to study the laws of the East Blue._

* * *

Ace was lounging on Zoro's bed, one leg tucked up and the other draped over the headrest. He propped the pillow up under his head for the fifth time. It wasn't nearly enough to raise his head properly, but he knew Zoro liked his pillows very thin.

"Soo, why exactly are you getting ready for work?" Ace called towards the bathroom, where the door was left wide open. An echoed grumble came through the sound of the shower.

"Because there's a guy coming in today and he needs to be interviewed," Zoro sighed.

Ace pushed himself up on his elbows.

"We're recruiting?"

"You didn't know?"

"How was I supposed to know if you don't tell me. That's awesome!"

A hand appeared from behind the shower curtain and grabbed the bottle of shampoo. He poured a generous amount into his palm and started massaging his scalp, every now and then scratching the sides.

"I know right."

"So why are you doing this? I thought we were closed on Sundays."

"Because Nami duped me. She plans her shit on days like these and then dumps it on me," he scoffed.

"Aii, you've been had again… anyway, tell me about this guy."

"We don't know him yet. Don't get too excited, he might be a total Luffy. No offense."

"None taken," Ace replied with a smirk and made for the bathroom. He leaned on the sink and checked himself in the mirror. It was all foggy because of the shower so he wiped it clean with his fingers. Man, he looked great as always.

"Remember when he sat down between this couple and 'helped them out' with the big serving of meat?" Ace snorted and glanced back at the silhouette on the curtain. A hearty laugh came from Zoro who threw his head back.

"Because waiters help the guests out, right? His idea of a job is way too convenient. Luffy's life is all pink colored."

"His trial was the best period ever, even though he didn't make it through."

"Yeah, Sunny was only two months old back then."

"Luffy did really abuse our financial stats though. Nami was fuming."

Zoro snorted. "Maybe we should find him a girlfriend who holds him down."

Ace scrunched up his nose. "Bro, sometimes I really wonder if there's anyone in this world who can handle him."

"It's not really hard to find someone who _can_. Question is who is _willing_ to and who will Luffy like back. What the hell would Luffy's ideal woman look like anyway…" Zoro chuckled.

"A woman with a kind heart for sure."

"But then what? I want someone with a kind heart too, isn't that just a common thing?"

"You're probably right. I think Luffy is aware too that he needs someone who holds him down. I mean, look at all of us. Look at _you._ You're the perfect example."

"I guess. He'd probably choose an authorative woman. One who knows his boundaries though, Luffy likes to be understood and respected for his decisions," Zoro finished and turned off the water. "Pass me the towel?"

Ace picked two towels from the stack, handing them to Zoro and sitting down on the toilet seat. A second later, Zoro stepped out of the tub and wrapped one towel around his waist, draping the other over his green head. Ace didn't blink an eye at the sight of the naked man. Zoro and Ace have been best mates ever since Ace could remember. They've even showered together when they were little. Zoro was the only man besides his brothers though whom he was comfortable seeing like this in such an intimate place.

He was suddenly reminded of the staff event of tomorrow.

"Zoro, we have a marketing session tomorrow. You gonna be there?"

"I'm dead meat if I don't show up. But, damn, I hate those sessions. How can Nami call them marketing sessions? All she does is teach us how to flirt," he grimaced.

"Attracting women is how we earned half our income!" Ace justified, beaming at the very idea. He had it easy after all, Nami was really nice to him. Ace was a natural flirt, so he never really needed her advice. Sabo too was capable of flirting whenever the situation called for it. It seemed her only problem, and possibly only reason to continue these stupid sessions, was because she thought that Zoro sucked at flirting. She said that he doesn't know how to keep a conversation going and that he is way too insensitive. Of course, Zoro thinks he's doing just fine…

"I just hope the session will go by fast…"

Ace chuckled and glanced at his watch. He clicked his tongue.

"Yo, you gotta make haste."

Zoro had changed into his uniform and decided with Ace that they'd meet up at the Sunny again at 4 pm. Ace had to run some errands and after that, they would visit the blacksmith so that Zoro could pick up his sword. So now Zoro was left alone. It was almost 14:00, the time of the appointment, and he was lounging at one of the tables of the Sunny with paper and pen on the table and a beer in his hand. He noticed that Nami always carried a pen and paper with her during this kind of thing.

A moment later, the bell rang and Zoro jumped to his feet. As he made his way to the front door, he realized that he had no idea how to even _do_ an application interview. When he opened the door with a shrug, he inwardly raised his brow. There was a freaking punk down the stairs (probably his age or a little older) with bright red hair, sharp eyes, and dark, thin lips. His clothes were nothing too normal either, quite peculiar in fact, he thought as his eyes fell on the large fur coat that rested on his shoulders.

"You must be K. Eustass," he confirmed.

"Yeah. You can call me Kidd," the man smirked. Zoro narrowed his eyes.

"Come in," he said and stepped aside for Kidd to enter. As they walked through the corridor, Kidd comfortably looked around at the displays on the walls. Zoro awkwardly scratched his head and trailed behind. He wasn't exactly hospitable or into decorum, so honestly, he couldn't be professional even if he tried.

They walked into the dining room and Kidd took everything in. After a few seconds however, he turned around and expectantly raised a brow at Zoro. Zoro caught the hint and cleared his throat.

"Uhm, over here," he gestured to the table with his stuff on it.

Kidd took the chair opposite of him and rested his elbows on the table. Not knowing where to go from here out, Zoro offered the man a beer. Kidd's eyebrows twitched in surprise and settled for a coffee instead.

So now they were sitting there together, one gulping down a beer and the other sipping a coffee. Kidd was staring intensely now with his light-brown eyes.

"Ok, so you're Kidd…"

Kidd slowly nodded.

"And you want to be a bartender here…"

Again, he nodded. Zoro was just reciting the sheet, hoping a miracle would happen and a conversation would appear. He sighed and put the sheet down.

No miracle.

"Do you, uhm… have any experience as a bartender?" he tried.

"I used to work at the Rosefeld Bar as a bartender during the night shifts. Mostly tapping beer and pouring shots."

"Do you know how to make cocktails?"

"Sure."

"How many times a week are you available?"

"I can work every day during the evenings."

"Public transportation?"

"Nope. I live close by."

OK – Zoro was running out of questions already. What would Nami want to know?

"Can you flirt?" he blurted out, heat rushing to his face when he realized what he just said. The guy's eyebrows rose in surprise. That was the second time in five minutes that he'd been caught off guard and Zoro was starting to think that it was costing him his dignity. The punk narrowed his eyes to bore into Zoro's mind.

"Why do you ask?" he asked suspiciously.

Zoro awkwardly leaned back and crossed his arms. "It's uhh… a must here," he explained and averted his eyes.

Kidd took a moment to consider Zoro's intentions and presented a lopsided grin.

"I can flirt. Pretty good at that," he answered confidently, taking a huge weight off Zoro's chest.

"Good."

 _Another silence._

"Can I ask you a question as well?"

"Sure."

"What is your name?"

That was it. Zoro was practically glowing from embarrassment. Who the hell forgets to give their name in business?

"Uhm, sorry about that. Let me introduce myself. I'm Zoro, bartender and owner here."

"Are you supposed to be doing the interviews?" he asked skeptically. Zoro sighed in defeat.

"Nami had other plans for tonight so that's why I'm here now. I don't even know how this works, but oh well, she can't blame me for this afterwards…"

Kidd broke out into a fit and threw his head back.

"I knew something was off when you offered me a beer."

"I guess…" Zoro murmured. He hated doing these conversations. As if it was efficient to work with a sheet. It was not like a piece of paper could reflect someone's personality or qualities. People could write down whatever they want on it, didn't mean it was the truth! Then an idea popped up into his head.

"Hey, why don't you _show_ me what you're capable of?" he suggested. This seemed to catch Kidd's attention.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Make me a cocktail. I assume you already know the basics; classic cocktails and popular ones. I want you to make me your signature drink."

"Sounds like a plan," he agreed, feeling excited, this time looking surprised in a more positive way.

They hung out at the bar for the next 2 hours. Zoro pretending to be a guest while Kidd pretended to be the bartender. The interview was supposed to take 30 minutes at most, but who cared, they were having a ball. At some point, Kidd asked Zoro if it was okay, but Zoro convinced him that he had to wait until his friend came to pick him up anyway and that he could use the company. After hearing that, Kidd complained no more. Instead, he showed off his skills in tapping beers, hospitality, working the register and in making drinks.  
His signature drink was not bad at all. Zoro liked the strong flavor and the bitterness it had. A very masculine drink. Kidd claimed to be experimenting a lot behind the bar during his days at Rosefeld. There was usually only one bartender so he easily got bored.

Zoro grinned as he watched Kidd hold the lighter close to the glass with a very focussed expression. When it lit on fire, he quickly withdrew his hand and smirked at the result.

"This fire shot was really popular at Rosefeld," he said.

"Neat. You'd probably have to light a whole row of those back at Rosefeld."

"True, it's real mass production. People order shots in big numbers. I bet this place has a little more class."

"Compared to a club, yes. We don't sell many of those here. People here mostly order beer or sake. Cocktails are popular too."

"I guess a club is just a completely different setting."

"Probably. Is Rosefeld that bar with the body shots and shit?"

"Yeah, you knew?"

"My buddy mentioned something about that one time. He read it in a magazine. I knew Rosefeld sounded familiar."

"Heheh, that's right."

Zoro thought back to when he was lounging around with Sabo who was reading a magazine while Zoro cleaned his katana. Sabo had shown him pictures of a woman lying on top of the bar with her belly exposed. Another man was drinking a shot from her belly button. That was just one of the many types of shots they had at Rosefeld. Zoro thought it was strange when he first saw it.

The two of them were getting along really well. It was looking more like a hangout session now. Watching Kidd work in a natural environment was really a great way to test his qualifications. He had already found out that Kidd was great at creating drinks, was surprisingly social and easily approachable. But most importantly, he was having fun working the bar.

Suddenly, Kidd became quiet and stared Zoro in the eyes, _h_ _ard_. When Zoro caught his eyes, his grin faded and he lowered his drink onto the counter. Kidd looked like he was having a mental debate.

"What is it?" Zoro asked, slightly concerned.

Kidd smugly leaned on the bar and a mischievous glint sparked his eye.

"You should test my flirting skills too. I'd love some feedback," he said, his usual tone dropping into a suggestive baritone. Zoro tensed up. _What the fuck?_

Just then the door swung open and Ace walked in.

"Yo, Zoro!" Ace greeted, then he saw Kidd. "and… who is that?"

"This is Kidd, the applicant…," Zoro announced dubiously.

"Hey, I'm Ace. Nice to meet you," the freckled man said as he walked over to shake hands. Kidd straightened up.

"Nice to meet you too."

"I heard something about a new applicant from Zoro. So how did the interview go?"

Kidd gestured around himself. "Well, I'm standing behind the bar. I hope this means something," he asked cheekily. His gaze turned back to Zoro. The suggestion was plainly visible on his face. Zoro still didn't process the previous scene, and it felt even more out of place now that Ace showed up, but he recovered and smiled.

"He ain't half bad. I'm gonna set up a trial period and put him on the schedule this week. We'll see how it goes from there."

The other men broke out in cheers.

"Hell yeah! Seems to me that you did great!" Ace praised as he playfully punched Kidd on the shoulder. "The trial is gonna be a piece of cake."

After a few minutes of talk and laughter, Kidd decided it was time he headed home. Just before he closed the door behind him, he remembered something.

"I am available starting tomorrow. If you guys need an extra pair of hands, just let me know," he informed.

"Great, I'll contact you about it tonight," Zoro said as he saluted him goodbye. Ace also waved him off and as soon as the door closed, a silence filled the void. Ace and Zoro were both thinking the same thing.

"Kidd, huh? …" Ace mused. "Using his real name so casually... he must be quite reckless."

Zoro leaned onto the counter and laced his fingers, engulfed in his thoughts.

"Did you know about this?" Ace asked.

"Nope," Zoro answered curtly before catching Ace's eye level with a dark gaze. "Nami's got some explaining to do."

Sanji was flipping omelets and stirring hollandaise sauce _and_ doing a dozen of other things at the same time. The service was reaching its peak and the kitchen was a battlefield.

"Hot!"

"Are there any tomatoes left?!"

"Watch out, shithead!"

"Whose sauce is this?! It's burning!"

"Where are the waitresses?!"

"Who stole my fennel, goddamnit!"

And to top it off, Sanji's phone was continuously buzzing in his pocket. Somebody was just not giving up on him. He finished the last of his hollandaise sauce and secured it in a thermos blast. There you go, done. He wiped his forehead with his forearm and allowed himself to peek at his phone.

11 missed calls and 4 messages from Luffy. And he calls again… that makes 12.

He sighed and looked around. Everyone else was in a pinch, but his working space was always clean and organized. His orders were finished too. Those shitheads just gotta learn to keep their heads screwed on. Figuring that it wouldn't hurt to isolate himself for a few minutes, he picked up the phone.

"Sanji! I called eleven times! Why didn't you pick up?"

"Hey Luffy, I'm working. Is something wrong?"

"I'm grounded and bored. Stop by!"

Sanji facepalmed. "I thought this was an emergency."

"It is! Shanks is not loosening the rules whatsoever!"

"What did you get grounded for anyway?"

"I destroyed the kitchen."

"You _destroyed_ it? How the hell did you do that?"

"I don't know. I was trying to make Shanks stuffed peppers but they burned, so I tried to clean it with paper towels, but they caught on fire. The flame somehow got sucked into the air conditioning thing above the stove and turned into a very big fire! So I decided to remove the pan to keep away from the thing, but I burned my hand to the pan and accidently dropped it and everything spread out on the floor. Then I got really angry and threw water on everything to make the fire go away, but the oven and stove stopped working when they got wet. Really strange."

When Sanji thought he was finally done with his disastrous story, Luffy just had to add one more thing.

"I really don't know why Shanks thinks I destroyed the kitchen. I saved the kitchen from a fire!"

"I wouldn't know why," Sanji replied without even trying to explain just how much compassion he actually felt for Shanks.

"So are you coming? Bring something to eat too, Shanks doesn't want to make me anything right now."

"I have this feeling that it's not an actual question… Alright. My shift is almost over. Just send me the address and I'll stop by once I'm done here."

"Awesome! See ya then!" he beamed and hung up.

Sanji shook his head and chuckled. Such a weird character. The phone buzzed once more, showing a message with the address. Sanji tucked the phone back and went to help out the hopeless cooks.

Zoro opened the door to the Waltz and was welcomed by the jingle of a bell. The blacksmith looked up from his workspace and greeted his favorite customers.

"You came just at the right moment, I'm almost finished with Wado!" he beamed in his husky, yet energetic voice.

Zoro grinned and walked over to see the result. The blacksmith handed him goggles and he crouched down onto the stool next to him. He was pleased to see a perfectly sharp blade. The old man was by far the best black smith in town.

The swordsman shouldered the duffel bag onto the ground and took out two other katana.

"I brought these two for maintenance. Can you take care of them?"

"Jeez, again?"

The old man stopped the wheel and removed his goggles to inspect one of the katana. It was certainly worn out and needed to be sharpened at least.

Zoro smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I keep you busy, don't I?"

"You're lucky that I love you…"

Zoro's phone buzzed and he knew it was Nami.

" _ **I set you up on purpose, go somewhere private so we can talk."**_

"I gotta make a call," Zoro said and raised his phone to emphasize.

"Go on ahead, kid," Hizo replied and put his foot on the pedal again.

"Is it Nami?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, probably about that applicant. I'll be right back."

"Sure," Ace said distractedly as he lifted a set of nun chucks from the hook to inspect.

As Zoro walked out the door to talk in the backyard, the old man's eyes drifted over to Ace, who seemed occupied with the gear.

"Ace-kun," he called.

"Hm? Yes, Hizo-san?" he asked over his shoulder.

"We need to talk, now that Zoro-kun is not here."

This caught Ace's attention. When people said that, it usually didn't bode well, so he sat down on the stool and leaned in on his elbows.

"What is it?" he asked concerned.

"How has Zoro been lately?" Hizo asked, never averting his eyes from the sword-sharpening process.

"Good, I think? Why do you ask?"

"I'm a little worried about him. He visits very often lately."

Ace frowned. "What for?"

"To sharpen his blades mostly," he trailed off and turned to meet his eyes with a worried expression. "and to buy a gun."

Ace's eyes widened. "Gun?..."

As Hizo observed Ace's shocked face, he was sure that Ace wasn't aware, and that really bothered him.

"What for?" Ace asked again. The old man sighed.

"I'm not sure. He told me he wants it just in case, but such cases don't just suddenly occur unless you're expecting them to occur."

Ace turned to stare at the sparks coming off from the device. He was utterly mind-blown. A feeling of dread curled up in his stomach and he swallowed before his question.

"Ne, Hizo-san..." he mused a little unsure. "...What kind of gun was it?"

Hizo raised a brow but beckoned him over to show him to the model. Ace followed with tense shoulders and threw a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Zoro wasn't coming back. As they slowly passed the bigger looking guns, Ace scoffed to himself. He knew it. Hizo stopped in front of a handgun and put his hands on his hips. He beckoned Ace over with a flick of the head.

"A Springfield Armory XD-M. 45 ACP and 13 rds." Hizo explained and lifted another brow at Ace. "Why do you ask?"

Ace lifted up the gun and weighed it in his palm. He heaved a sigh. "Zoro likes big guns. Machine guns and such."

He aimed it at the opposite wall and tried to focus on the small thermometer that hung there.

"But of course a big gun like that wouldn't fit in his pocket. It'd blow his cover," he added as he tucked the pistol into his pocket to stress his point.

If Hizo hadn't seen him put it in his jacket, he would never have guessed there would be a gun in there. And Hizo knew that they were made to be easily portable, he was the specialist after all.

"But moreover, Zoro swears by his katana." Ace pointed out as he put the gun back against the wall. "So if Zoro thought it was time to buy a gun, that means that he's gotten himself involved in something serious. Something that forces him to put his katana aside."

"I see… How unsettling." Hizo agreed.

"I'm glad you told me. I knew he had some things on his mind, but I never expected things to have gotten to this." He turned to the old man with a forced smile. "I guess I'm just too used to being informed all the time."

Hizo returned a sad smile.

"Oi, witch."

"Hey, idiot," she replied throughout the phone. "What did you think of our new applicant?"

"You couldn't possibly have overseen the fact that he is the boss of an _underground society_ , right?"

"With my networking skills? No." she grinned. "He is exactly the person I was looking for. Apparently, his previous employer was starting to become suspicious about his occupations outside of work, so our guy resigned using some sort of excuse before the employer could find out more. He was just aching for a new cover~"

Zoro frowned. "You're giving him a job as a cover in exchange for his help? Does he even know our situation, cause the favor we're asking from him is at least ten times bigger than the one he asked from us!"

"Yes, he does. And I know, he would never agree to those terms, unlesssss… we have the same target. And besides, we have some pretty strong people amongst ourselves too."

"He's after those bastards too? I never imagined they would be pursued as well," Zoro raised a brow.

"They're probably not. I think they're just fed up with the way things are. They don't seem like the type to serve under anyone."

" _They_?"

" _They_ means that they are not alone. He has formed alliances with other gangs as well, so if we're able to strike a deal with him, that'll mean that all those other allies will be on our side too," she laughed triumphantly. Zoro took a moment to process things and spoke up carefully.

"Who exactly are these people they're allied with? Do you have a list of names or something?"

"Eh? I don't really have a list or anything… I know vaguely who those people are, but I can't tell you over the phone anyway. Let's save that for another time."

When Zoro didn't immediately reply, Nami added, "You don't sound all that enthusiastic all of a sudden. Is something wrong?"

Zoro was immediately back. "No, no. Nothing's wrong. I was just wondering. Anyway, I gotta go back, Ace and the old man are probably waiting."

"Hold on! You haven't told me what you think about him yet."

"He was great," Zoro quickly answered before remembering the strange atmosphere at the end of their 'interview'.

"Really, uhm, great. Very intense character," he added awkwardly with a scratch on his head.

"Does your gut tell you that we can trust him with this?"

"He seems really strong, maybe just a little overconfident. Fortune telling based on gut feeling is Luffy's territory, you should ask him," he cut short.

"Noo, that's fortune telling. Your gut feeling is _much more_ reliable when it comes to trust and sketchy people. What do you say?"

"My gut tells me that I have to protect my dick from him," he answered a little too honest. "but that aside, he seems fine. We don't have much of a choice at this stage anyway." and then he hung up, leaving a confused Nami behind.

When he walked back through the glass door, the old man and Ace were talking about some famous swords while Hizo-san put Wado back in its sheath. Zoro grinned at it, it was practically shining.

"I see you're done here as well," he spoke up, gaining the attention of both.

"Most definitely, here you go, kid," Hizo said.

"Thanks, pops."

Ace stood up from his spot and stretched his arms. "Well then, we shall get going."

They bid their goodbyes and as they stepped outside, Ace spoke up.

"What did she say?"

"She already has a plan on her mind. We can't talk about that kind of stuff over the phone, so I don't know much. I'll tell you about it when I know more."

"You better," Ace said playfully and opened his fist.

Zoro rolled his eyes but locked his fist into Ace's anyway and they bumped shoulders. "When did I not?"

Ace smiled softly, hoping that Zoro would soon tell him about what he's gotten himself mixed up in. Because if he didn't, Ace would have to force it out of him, or even worse; he would have to spy on his best friend.

"Sabo sent me a message this afternoon saying that Luffy got grounded. Let's hang out at our place tonight."

"You got booze?"

"Shanks did groceries just yesterday," Ace replied with a smirk.

"Hell yeah, let's go right now!"

Sanji stood in front of a small pathway leading to an old wooden door. His eyes trailed the body of the house all the way up to the chimney. He swallowed in shock. It was a wreck. The wood looked about to crumble into dust and one of the windows had cracks in it which were covered up with silver duct tape. Sanji hoped that this was all just Luffy's doing and that the damage still had to be taken care of, but deep down he felt a twinge in his heart knowing that it was probably a sign of poverty. He rang the bell. Not even a second passed before the door swung open and a proud looking Luffy stood at the entrance.

"Finally!" he exclaimed.

"Were you waiting in front of the door?"

"Nah, I had a gut feeling you'd show up around now. Come on, come on!" he beamed happily and stepped aside for Sanji to enter. Sanji smiled and walked up the steps. He immediately noticed the neatly aligned shoes on the shoe rack and assumed he had to take his off too. He liked it, it felt informal and welcoming. It's good that he didn't wear his pineapple patterned socks.

"Luffy! Is that your friend?!" someone yelled from somewhere inside.

"Yes! It's the curly cook I told you about!"

"Oi…" Sanji objected embarrassed as he followed Luffy through the doorframe on the right side of the hallway. As he stuck his head into the room, it seemed that the left side was where the tv and the couch was. And on the right was a kitchen with a very frustrated looking man in an apron, scrubbing off dirt from the oven while cursing under his breath. Luffy's mess probably. When the man noticed Sanji's presence, his face lit up and he got to his feet.

"You must be Curly!" he asked completely serious and dusted himself off to shake hands.

"Sanji, actually," Sanji corrected politely. "Nice to meet you."

"Ahh, Sanji it is then. I'm Shanks. Father of Luffy, Ace, and Sabo."

"I've heard a lot about you. And I see Luffy's gotten himself into trouble again."

"He's a living whirlwind… my kitchen…" Shanks sulked as he crouched back in front of the oven. Sanji offered to help him but Shanks insisted that keeping Luffy company would be even better, so he joined Luffy on the couch. He was starting up a PlayStation 4.

"Let's play black ops!"

"Su—"

"Count me in."

Sanji swung his head into the direction of the doorframe. Sabo stood there, taking off his hat to put it aside on the cabinet. He grinned up at Sanji. "You're the last one I expected. Good to have you."

Sanji beamed. He really liked Sabo, he seemed like a kind person. "Yeah, thanks, we were about to play a game."

"There's only two consoles though. Shotgun!" Luffy a declared. Sabo chuckled.

"You play with him first."

"You should play too."

"We'll do rounds."

"Fair enough. So… how does this work?" Sanji asked, surprising both of the brothers, even Shanks frowned from his cleaning spot under the dining table. Luffy cocked his head.

"Eeeeeeeeeh?!" he all but whined, making Sanji blush in embarrassment.

"O-oi, I had other things to do when I was your age," he defended.

"What about your age now? Sabo and Ace still play."

"I don't have time for games! There's a restaurant that has to be run!"

"And on your days off? What do you do with your friends?"

Sanji flinched. Friends?

"I, uhm, I don't see them very often. Like I said, I put all my energy in the restaurant. There's management and financial stuff to do as well."

"Then what about – "

"— You won't understand it anyway, Luffy. Just explain the controls." Sabo waived off with a grin. Unlike Luffy, he could tell when people started to make excuses. Sanji was obviously not willing to talk about his 'friends'. Luffy pouted.

"First of all, you're holding it upside down," he corrected and turned the console around in Sanji hands.

"Oh," is all Sanji managed in return.

He listened to all the other instructions and tried the buttons out. His character was moving exactly according to the instructions and he was impressed by how realistic the game was. When Luffy thought he was ready (or just got bored explaining the controls to him), he jumped to the start without warning. Sanji quickly got comfortable before the countdown was over.

"Staaaart!" Luffy cheered and ran off into the open field where he was immediately targeted by guns and explosives and even helicopters. He grinned carelessly and shot every person that got in his way. Sanji at this point realized that he had no idea what the point of the game was.

"Do I just shoot everyone down?" he asked baffled. Sabo laughed from his spot in the kitchen where he was collecting drinks for the three of them and decided to guide Sanji through the game.

"No, you just shoot those who don't have a name above their head. The ones with a name are your teammates. You can see them all on the radar."

Sanji glanced at the left corner, he was right.

"Sanji, what do you drink?"

"Do you have a beer in there?"

"Coming right up," he replied and brought three pints of beer over to the coffee table. By now, Sanji was leaning forward, elbows on his knees, completely engulfed in the game.

"So, Luffy, are we on the same team?"

"Yup! We can communicate with everyone who's on the team!"

"How?"

Luffy paused the game and sent someone a message. A voice came.

"Yooo, Luffy!"

"Yo, Usopp! Sanji is playing too, it's _his first time_!" he informed and burst out into laughter again, earning himself a foot in the face.

"Really? I was already wondering who that depressed character was who's gotten shot 6 times in a row. Luffy, you gotta teach him how to play."

"I can hear you, Usopp!" Sanji yelled. Sabo sat down next to the blond.

"Let me help you through it for your first round," he said.

"Thanks, man. Hold up," he said and grabbed the pint, downing about half of it in one go. If he was gonna game, he was not gonna have much time to tend to his drinks from now on. Bigger swigs it was, then.

As the game went on, Sanji was kicking ass. Sabo's explanations were definitely better than Luffy's. He even put Usopp in his place after his sixth loss when he himself had only died two more times. During the game, many other voices joined in. They were all gaming buddies of Luffy and the others and it slowly became clear that everyone served a purpose.

Usopp was their sharpshooter and he always operated from a hiding spot. Aside from that, he also was their tactician, but every time Luffy didn't follow through with the plan, plan B was to just kick the enemy's ass at all costs. There was another guy that Sanji noticed in particular. His name was Franky and he was their bomber on the offense. He was a total beast, but always had Sanji's back, so he liked him. Sanji was on the offense as well, his favorite spot. Since the characters were not really good with kicking techniques, Sanji settled as a gunman.

He was just loving the game.

7 fanatic rounds and 4 pints later, the door rang.

"ACEEEE!" Luffy cheered uncontrollably, throwing his fists in the air and accidently dropping the console in between himself and Sanji.

"Careful, Luffy! You're gonna break sum'fin." the cook slurred slightly, picking up the remote.

When Ace was led inside, followed by a greenhead, Sanji's jaw dropped.

"WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?!" he exclaimed and pointed an accusing finger at Zoro. Zoro quickly grew a tic mark on his forehead, obviously not too happy to see said man either.

"What are _you_ doing here?!" he yelled back. Sanji was the last one to tell him to leave, he's been coming to this place since forever!

"This is not your house, marimo. Your house is on the other side of town."

"I KNOW THAT," he barked. As much as he wanted to suffocate the man, he didn't miss the slur in his accent and the lazy eyelids. Just how much did they drink? It wasn't even 6 pm yet. He massaged his temple and walked over to the couch to sit next to Luffy. Luffy scooted over to the _wrong_ side, creating a spot in between him and Sanji instead of between him and the armrest. How could Luffy always be so oblivious…

"Sit in between me and Sanji!" he cheered happily, clapping his hands above his head. Luffy was obviously hammered, his cheeks were flushed.

"Hell no –," Zoro tried to protest, but Luffy gave him a 'friendly' pull and he fell flat forward on the couch. Sanji shifted away from the swordsman and pressed his foot against his side, keeping him on a safe distance as if Zoro carried some kind of virus. He booed petulantly at the greenhead.

"Someone forgot to mow th'lawn," Sanji dared through gritted teeth. Zoro grabbed the foot and pushed it back annoyed, putting his whole body weight into it.

"No, you forgot to shave your eyebrows," he spat back, matching his glare.

Just when it looked like they were gonna cut it out, Sanji's foot slipped out of Zoro's grip and he fell on top of Sanji. It was the announcement of a childish war. Sanji fiercely grabbed Zoro's shoulders to push him away and Zoro gripped his upper arm and pushed his other palm into his cheek, smudging it all across his face and making it hard to hear the curses he was producing.

"Dmnn mrmo…" he garbled and tried to get his foot in Zoro's face.

Zoro grabbed it with one of his hands again. "Third-rate cook."

Sanji tried to bite Zoro's hand and the swordsman pulled back in shock.

"Musclehead!" the blond spat.

"Wha-the fuck! Don't go biting! Ero-cook!"

And it went on and on. Ace sighed and went for the game console that lay forgotten on Sanji's lap. He honestly thought it was time for Zoro and Sanji to make up.

"I'll be taking this…" he said and moved to sit next to the fighting couple, making Luffy scoot over onto the armrest where he sat in a butterfly pose.

"If you guys kick me in the process, you're both dead," he announced nonchalantly.

"What's happening over there?" came Usopp's voice through the receiver.

"Yoo, Usopp. It's just Zoro and Sanji, don't worry about it," Ace explained.

"Hey, Ace!"

"AUW! Ace-bro!"

"Yo, Franky,"

"Are you playing this round?" Usopp asked Ace.

"Hell, yeah! It's gonna be me and Zoro!" he said excitedly, squeezing Zoro's shoulder to get his attention. Sabo flicked the console at the greenhead who caught it with ease.

"Bring it on!" he smirked as he shouldered Sanji one final time to state his point. Sanji pushed him back half-heartedly and grumbled something under his breath, sinking back into the couch to take another swig of the beer. He didn't want to blow Ace's game, so he cut it out.

"YEEAAAHHH! Countdown!" Luffy cheered.

The game had been going on for a while and it was an exciting round. They were up against team Foxy. Everyone in the room hated them because they were famous for playing dirty.

"Don't lose to them, Ace, Zoro!" Luffy exclaimed.

"I'd rather eat a shoe!" Zoro replied.

Shanks walked up to the new two arrivals and put their beers on the table. Sanji noticed how they didn't even say what they wanted, but Shanks already knew. Maybe Zoro visited often. Sanji followed Ace on the top screen. Now that he and Luffy were out of the picture, the game seemed to be going really organized and well. Zoro ducked behind a rock when he was targeted by four men at the same time.

"I need back up!"

"Yosh, Usopp, cover for me!" Ace replied and jumped out of the window, running straight into the battlefield from another angle to catch the enemy off guard. Before they could even change their aim, two of them were slaughtered by Ace's merciless shooting, another one died from a headshot at Usopp's hands and the last one got shot by Zoro before he could pull the trigger at Ace.

Everyone communicated really well and they ended the game without a single loss.

"The Foxy's are such wimps…" Zoro complained.

"Tell me about it, I hope we get to fight the God pirates again," Ace responded.

"Oh, we fought them a few rounds ago. Maybe they're still online," Sanji pointed out.

"Really? How did it go?"

"They were not too bad!" Luffy answered with a wide grin.

"We lost thanks to you!" Sanji protested.

"Really? Hahaha!" Luffy laughed.

Sanji shook his head. The next game was about to start. Sabo gestured at Sanji from his spot on the single couch.

"It's your turn," he said.

"Right. Ace, you wanna play a round with me?" Sanji asked.

"Sure!"

Sanji turned to Zoro and raised his brows expectantly, open palm extended. Zoro held it up and all but dropped it in the middle of the air. Sanji swiped it mid-air and glared at the greenhead, but all he did was roll his eyes and get up. Shanks came to the table to collect the empty glasses.

"Do you need help in the kitchen?" Zoro offered, mainly to get rid of Sanji.

"Sure, I could always use some."

"Save me a round," Zoro elbowed Ace when he got up and took his beer to the kitchen. Sanji glanced over with interest before the countdown brought him back. Time for another round.

* * *

 _I have a question for you guys. It's about a scene I might want to add to the story or maybe another one I'm writing._

 _Do you think Zoro would turn to stone under Boa Hancock's Mello Mello Mellow?_


	4. Truce?

_What happened in the last chapter: Zoro hosted an application interview with Kidd. Afterwards, he and Ace visited the blacksmith where Ace found out that Zoro apparently bought a gun. Deciding to stay low for the time being, they made for Ace's place to game and have some drinks, not knowing that a drunken Sanji would be there as well. Now they're all playing black ops while Zoro helps Shanks out in the kitchen._

 _A/N: for those who have noticed, I've foolishly been switching between British English and American English in the previous chapters. I decided to stick with British from now on._

* * *

Zoro glanced over at the tv from his spot in the kitchen. He had offered to help cooking because of a seemingly random desire to isolate himself. Ace was playing with Sanji and they were actually doing well, much to Zoro's surprise. It really seemed that everyone got along with Sanji, but Zoro just couldn't stand him. Even looking at him now caused anger to bubble from his chest. Showing up into their lives with a horrible attitude, causing trouble, and still daring to have a freaking attitude. No modesty whatsoever. Zoro narrowed his eyes at the blond.

Sanji briefly looked away to meet Zoro's eyes and Zoro flinched, almost cutting off his finger in the process. He quickly rounded on his cutting board and busied himself with the first thing that came to mind; organizing the potato chunks on the cutting board to make the shape of a sword. It was truly random and pointless seeing as there specifically was a colander right next to the cutting board to put the potatoes in, but who cared. He had to look busy. The last thing he wanted was for Sanji to feel like he was admiring him. He grumbled something indistinctive under his breath and swiped the potatoes into the colander, getting started on dicing the second batch. Shanks walked by and peeked over Zoro's shoulder to see the evenly cut potatoes and smiled.

"Thanks for helping out. You seem to be good with every kind of blade," he complimented.

Zoro pulled back to study the chunks. "Is that so? Thanks."

"But you know, if you want to join the others then just go ahead. There's not much to do here anymore."

"Nah, I'm good," Zoro replied with a light shrug. Shanks' parenting sensors peaked at the lack of enthusiasm.

"Zoro, is everything okay? You look really strained lately. Not very sociable, a little touchy too. Am I wrong?" he asked with a worried expression.

Zoro's cutting pace slowed down and his mind wandered off to where he had hoped it wouldn't linger tonight. His eyes grew more distant by the second until the dicing motion of his hand came to a halt halfway through the vegetable. He stared it down and tried to summarize all the events into one sentence, not that he would be using it in his explanation for Shanks. The opposite actually; he'd use it to come up with yet another excuse to justify his behaviour.

Shanks cocked his head in an attempt to meet Zoro's eyes which were currently glued to the cutting board. Zoro glanced over only to find a pair of caring eyes, wanting an answer as if it was his own problem. He turned back to his cutting board and closed his eyes, a small smile gracing his lips at the reminder of being genuinely cared for. He thought up an answer that would be closest to the truth. Shanks was maybe the perfect person to talk to, but this thing was something he hadn't even told Ace yet, so it felt wrong to tell Shanks.

"You're probably right…" he started, hands going back into motion, "There's some things going on right now, but I don't even know what to make of it myself."

His answer was demanding enough for Shanks to get the rather disappointing message. Although it wasn't the whole story, Zoro still felt like it wasn't a lie either. Shanks stayed quiet for a moment, searching for a hint of some sort from Zoro's neutral expression.

"You don't want to talk about it then..." he made sure. Zoro opened his mouth to confirm, but then realized that that was not exactly true. He shook his head.

"I _can't_ ," he corrected, to Shanks' surprise.

"There's a huge difference there," Shanks gently urged.

"It's gonna be okay though, I just need some time," Zoro added to reassure Shanks. The last thing he wanted was for the man to worry about him. He's been going through so much for Zoro already. Allowing himself a moment to think back to a few years ago, Shanks had always treated him like one of his own, even though he treated him like trash. He had always been kind to him, even though Zoro ungratefully flicked him off. He treated his wounds, even though Zoro threatened to hurt him. Shanks had slowly and naturally slid into Zoro's life to the point of becoming a father figure, even when Zoro tried _so hard_ to push him away. Shanks was the one person to break Zoro's ice.

"Just don't be too hard on yourself," Shanks spoke up, sucking Zoro back to reality. "We will always have your back. And if it involves some action, I'm sure that the boys are just _eager_ to help," he winked. Zoro couldn't help but smirk.

"You're not exactly worried about them, are you?"

"Nah, they're not stoppable anyway," he replied with a shrug, much to Zoro's amusement. He was feeling nostalgic all of a sudden.

Sanji's match ended and he and Sabo went to collect all the empty glasses for refills. Sanji has had a little too much to drink and his concentration for the game was slipping away, which made Sanji unwilling to participate in the next one. When they walked into the kitchen, the cook couldn't help but glimpse at the food in the making. He walked over with a slight wobble and leaned his hand onto the counter. Zoro glared at him sideways.

"What do you want, curly?"

"I wanna cook~" he purred happily, making both Zoro and Shanks tense up in shock. This man… was officially drunk. Shanks put his hands on his hips and laughed whole-heartedly.

"You're a sous-chef, right?" he asked to which Sanji nodded proudly.

"Please take a break, Shanks-san. I'm shur that moss for brains made you work overtime."

"I was doing just fine!" Zoro objected.

"Zoro's right, haha! But I sure am tired. Thanks for taking over, I'll be going upstairs to finish off some paperwork. Come get me anytime if you need something!" he said and waved them goodbye, oblivious to the fact that the whole reason Zoro went into the kitchen was so that he wouldn't have to deal with Sanji.

"O-oi, wait a minute!" Zoro protested, being left with a giddy looking drunk. But Shanks just carelessly dismissed him with a laugh and left the room. Zoro turned to Sabo for support.

"Hey, Sa-"

"Have a beer and make us something nice. We're all hungry you know," Sabo interrupted and shoved a beer into Zoro's hands. A playful smirk danced across his lips and he leaned in to whisper.

"Learn to get along, will you?" he added just loud enough for only Zoro to hear, before making his way back to the couch. Sanji swung his head to call out to the people in the living room.

"I'll make shur the marimo doesn't poison anyone!" he announced.

"Yeaah! No poison!" Luffy shouted completely random as if Zoro had a passion for poisoning people.

"Luffy! focus on the game!" Ace scolded.

"Make lots of meat!" Luffy side-noted, completely ignoring Ace.

"Someone's rampaging with a bazooka," Ace tried, and with success, as Luffy enthusiastically switched back to the game.

Zoro reluctantly went back to the cutting board and observed Sanji through the corner of his eyes. He was currently checking the pan on the stove, his hand rubbing the stubble on his chin as he put the cover back on the pan, opening the next one for inspection. Zoro had never worked in a professional kitchen, but at that moment he felt like a cook who was being judged by the chef. It must have been a habit the blond had developed while working at the Baratie. He wouldn't be surprised if the blond suddenly started lecturing him about the wrong temperature of the meat and other things along those lines. Sanji finally reached a conclusion and put back the cover with a hum, rounding to face Zoro.

"Dat doesn't look too bad," he said, a little surprised by Zoro's cooking skills.

"I only cut the potatoes," Zoro deadpanned and held up his knife to emphasize.

"Dat explains dat…" Sanji shrugged.

"Hey now…" Zoro muttered wryly. Sanji strolled towards the fridge and took out some vegetables, laying them out on another cutting board.

"Dis dish needs some more greens," he decided and swiped a knife out of the holder with a light hold. When he started cutting the courgettes, Zoro noticed with terror struck on his face that Sanji was getting awfully close to his own fingers.

"And now, speed uuuup~" he chuckled and increased the speed of his unsteady cutting, almost making Zoro feel like he was doing it on purpose. He watched shortly with mild discomfort, before snatching the knife out of Sanji's hand at some point.

"Watch it!" he snapped, having removed the knife just in time before it made contact with his fingertips. "You almost cut yourself, stupid cook!"

Sanji put his hands on his hips in defence. "Aren't you cocky. I know exactly what I'm doing, don't lecture me, dishwasher!"

"Dishwasher?!" Zoro blurted incredulously. He knew he wasn't exactly outstanding with his cooking skills, but it was still insulting to hear Sanji say that without ever having tasted his cooking.

"Just stand back and let me handle dis," Sanji waved Zoro off. The cook got back to working the knife in an introverted manner, considerably more cautious this time as he seemed to realize with widened eyes that he was indeed becoming a little careless. Zoro just stood there, obviously ignored as Sanji in his drunken blur possibly forgot that Zoro was still there. He scratched his head in agitation. He could at least pretend to get along with Sanji while the others were around. Sabo had been serious when he asked Zoro to get along with Sanji. The swordsman stared at the blonde's sideview as he tried to come up with a way to handle this.

"What are you staring at, marimo? Have you finally lost your wits?"

Zoro's eyebrow twitched. This was gonna be a heck of a mission. He cleared his throat.

"Uhm, these potatoes are all cut. I can cut those for you so you can get started on the potatoes," he suggested and pointed to the vegetables that lay abused on the blonde's cutting board. He secretly just didn't want Sanji to injure himself or have blood in his food.

"What do you know, you were thinking after all…" Sanji

The rest of the cooking session didn't go so smooth. Sanji kept dozing off and when it reached the point that he almost fell face first into the stew that was boiling on the stove, Zoro had to drag him to the couch by the collar. Sabo took Sanji's place in the kitchen and together they finished the meals so that everyone could eat. They even woke Sanji up to have something to eat before he went back to sleep. Soon after the meals were gone, Luffy drunkenly passed out and everyone else was getting tired as well. Zoro got to his feet and stretched his back.

"It's about time I went home," he said. Sanji got to his feet as well and almost stumbled back onto the couch.

"I'm going too," he stated, causing the others in the room to fall silent for a second. They didn't really think that was a smart decision.

"You should probably stay here for the night, you're in no condition to walk," Ace offered.

"Yeah, he's right. We have a guest room just around the corner," Sabo insisted and jerked his thumb towards the hallway. Sanji politely waved a hand in dismissal.

"Thanks for the offer, but I gotta go back. I'm the only one with the keys to the front door tomorrow," he tried to articulate as best as he could. The slight mumble in his tone gave away the fact that he was still not sober, but his efforts weren't wasted as the guys exchanged a look of consideration. It really was more like telepathic harassment, because Zoro quickly figured that Ace and Sabo were begging him to take Sanji rather than trying to find a way that didn't include Zoro and Sanji within the same square meter. Seeing as he was the only one who still had to travel, it would only be logical for him to take Sanji back to the Baratie. Zoro sighed in defeat.

"I'll walk you," he offered and disappeared into the hallway to grab his coat. Sanji took the offer as an insult and objected.

"No way, I wasn't implying that I need an escort and _definitely_ not a ball of moss. I can manage by myself," he said, followed by a hiccup.

"You can definitely _not_ manage by yourself. Just take the offer and deal with it," Zoro replied wearily and threw Sanji's coat towards his chest, which the latter caught with a growl.

"If you're gonna complain, I'll have to call Nami to tell her that her boyfriend is flat drunk and needs to be picked up. Do you wanna worry her with that?" he warned, knowing that it would be effective on the blond. Sanji grit his teeth, roughly shoving his arms into the sleeves of his coat and standing up to button it up while he sulked. It was probably his way of saying 'fine, I'll come along'. To Zoro, just to see him cooperate was enough.

The weather outside was extremely cold. The snow had piled up considerably in the time they were inside playing black ops. They were just lucky that it stopped snowing and that there was no wind at this hour. Zoro and Sanji had been walking for about 15 minutes and one foot into First street, Sanji groaned dramatically and sat down in the middle of the street. Zoro turned around with a raised brow.

"You're gonna soak your trousers in the snow," he reasoned.

Sanji shrugged and moved his legs to one side attempting to lay down. There were still a few people out on the streets and they threw the couple a worried look, wondering why Zoro wasn't doing anything to help his 'friend'. Zoro who felt wronged by the judgemental looks pursed his lips and stomped over to the cook, stubbornly extending a hand. Sanji eyed it with disinterest.

"Get up," Zoro ordered, only to earn himself a scoff in return. Revolted by the attitude, he strictly glared at the man, implying that if the blond didn't get up, he would have to use force. Sanji just rolled his eyes and made himself comfortable in his new 'bed', cold of the snow burning away on his cheek due to the drunken flush.

"My condolences to Nami's life for dealing with someone like you…" Zoro grumbled and pulled the Sanji's upper arm to get him into a sitting position, but the cook quickly jerked his arm away.

"I can stand up by myself, stop trying to make it look like I need your help all the time," he spat indignantly while getting to his feet. Zoro tutted.

"That's what you make yourself look like, laying down on the ground like you have no energy to stand on your legs." That triggered Sanji's ego and he spun around, swinging a fierce yet uncontrolled leg at Zoro's head, who jumped back just in time, stumbling a little before coming to a stop.

"Woah, woah, that's dangerous! Are you trying to kill me?!"

"Yeah, with the no energy I have in my legs," he replied sarcastically. Zoro had to hand it to him, his kicks were no pushover. He remembered the kick back at Sunny and its impact when he blocked it. It was definitely more than he would have expected from the lean looking man. Zoro cautiously turned around, making sure he would not receive another kick while he wasn't watching, and lead the way.

"If you're booming with all that energy, you might as well use it to walk." As if on cue, Sanji crouched down and groaned again.

"Why don't you just help me walk like a good companion?"

"Y-you said you didn't need my help!" Zoro fumed.

"Not for standing up, no. Nothing wrong with helping me walk though." Zoro massaged his temple. This was all way too complicated for him. He was just a simple man with simple logic. Deciding to just go with it for the sake of getting home fast and collapsing onto his bed, he let the blond to throw his arm around his shoulders and lean on him as they continued down First Street.

Another 10 minutes later and Sanji was starting to become giggly without a reason. Zoro labelled it the 'high and completely lost phase'. While Sanji blabbered on about Nami and her ability to run a grand café all by herself because Zoro could never in his opinion be helpful to her, Zoro suddenly remembered to contact Kidd about his schedule for the next day and released Sanji's wrist to find his phone. Sanji immediately stumbled into Zoro and the arm he had just released slid off his back. Zoro grabbed Sanji's shoulder to steady him and pursed his lips at the lack of effort coming from the cook.

"Try to be a little independent at least, I need to make a call," he announced. Sanji clumsily found his way back to Zoro's shoulder and held onto it half-heartedly. Zoro rolled his eyes and looked up Kidd's number. The phone rang a few times before a sleepy sounding person picked up the phone.

"Seth speaking. Who is this?" came a grumpy voice, catching Zoro off guard. This was _not_ what he expected.

"Uhm, this is Zoro. Is Eustass there?" The other side of the line went quiet for a good three seconds. Zoro seriously thought that this Seth was about to hang up on him.

"Just a sec," Seth replied instead and put the phone down. Zoro heard some shuffling on the other side and some distant voices. He was sure he heard Seth ask whether Kidd knew someone by the name Zoro. Some more shuffling followed and then Kidd finally picked up the phone.

"Hey, boss. You called," he greeted, his surprise just barely concealed over the phone.

"You can just call me Zoro… Did I wake you up?" he had to make sure.

"Whoever sleeps at 10 pm at this age could not be me," he grinned.

"Fair enough. I said I'd call you about the schedule. The shift starts at 3 pm, but there's a marketing session starting at 1 pm if you can make it. They might come across as strange for newcomers, so I won't blame you if you decide to pass this time."

"I actually talked to Nami today and she made sure I'd show up," he said and continued curiously, "What are these sessions usually about then?"

"You'll find out tomorrow," Zoro awkwardly dismissed.

"I might not, but you've made me really curious," he insisted. Zoro wrecked his brain finding out what that was supposed to mean. Did it mean that he might not show up depending on what the session was about even when he promised Nami? He had some nerve to talk like that to Zoro. he decided to answer nonetheless.

"It's about marketing strategies and analyses. But Nami focusses a lot on customer attraction and integrity as far as we bartenders are concerned, so she likes to spend these sessions on flirting strategies and trainings …" he trailed off at the end of the sentence, finding it extremely embarrassing that they housed this sort of stupid seminars. It must've sounded to Kidd like they're some kind of teenage dating agency.

"Aahh, the flirting skills you were referring to during my application interview," he brought up cheekily, purposely taking Zoro's mind back to their weird moment right before Ace barged in.

"Yes," Zoro replied as indifferently as possible, not wanting to give Kidd the pleasure of knowing that he had been sulking over that specific event countless of times. Kidd was obviously grinning on the other side of the line, but Zoro stubbornly stayed quiet, wanting to let the subject die out.

"So who will be teaching?" he continued, much to Zoro's discomfort.

"Nami will be instr – _Oi, get off of me!_ " Zoro blurted in shock as Sanji decided to subtly climb onto his back while he was distracted. The blond awkwardly wrapped his arms around his neck, unknowingly suffocating the swordsman in the process. Zoro tried to untangle Sanji's fingers with the one hand he had left to prevent himself from dying a pitiful death when Kidd spoke up hesitantly.

"What?" he asked, a little unsure of who Zoro was talking to and what the rumbling on the other side was. Zoro leaned backwards for Sanji's feet to touch the ground to relief some of pressure on his throat and gasped for air.

"Nothing… where were we?" he said, thinking back to the conversation.

"Uhm, you sure you're okay over there? Sounds like you're not alone either."

"Just taking a drunk man back to his house," he explained when Sanji started whining childishly, climbing back up every time Zoro tried to push him down.

"I'm tired! If you give me a piggyback ride I promise I'll make you somefin delicious sometime~" Sanji managed right before his head fell limply on Zoro's shoulder, slumbering away.

"Get a grip, will you!" Zoro hissed in frustration. The commotion was obviously loud enough for Kidd to hear, because he started laughing hysterically.

"Sounds like he'll do about anything to receive a piggyback ride from you," Kidd pointed out mischievously. Zoro's eyes widened in embarrassment. At first, Zoro wasn't sure when to think of Kidd's way of talking as casual and when to think of it as perverse. But ever since Kidd obviously tried to hit on him this afternoon, suddenly everything the punk said sounded wrong. He was sure that Kidd was trying to get a reaction out of him.

Zoro wasn't really the kind of guy to be into hierarchy. He liked to think of his fellow employees as equals, but it was moments like these that he was reminded of his position as supervisor and recollected himself. If Kidd was trying to be cocky with him already when he hadn't even started working yet, he should probably be tamed before all respect was gone.

"What are you implying, Eustass?" he answered sternly, gaining back some of his credibility. Kidd sensed the change in tone and took a moment to find his answer. He cleared his throat.

"Nothing…" Zoro crossed that answer off as his win, Kidd was adjusting his attitude.

"You can call me Kidd by the way," he added. Zoro was a little shocked about the fact that Kidd just mentioned his real name over the phone, that also happened to be the name he used for underground business. Did he even realize that the police could track them down this way? This guy was either a total moron or just overconfident. Zoro assumed it was the latter and just decided not to mention his name over the phone at all.

"Alright. You can change into your uniform when you arrive tomorrow, I'll have it ready by then. Is there anything you want to know before you start?" he asked. Next to him, Sanji slowly raised his head from where he had been drooling on Zoro's collarbone and lifted his hand to poke Zoro's cheek repetitively.

 _Very_ annoying _._

Zoro just menacingly glared at the finger but decided to pay it no mind for now, preferring to finish up his talk with Kidd first.

"I'm sure I'll learn everything else when I get there tomorrow," Kidd answered. Zoro nodded in agreement. Now, there was only one thing he didn't quite understand.

"Just to be clear – Are you coming to the marketing session tomorrow or not?"

"I'll be there," he answered much more clearly than last time and Zoro smiled despite the sore feeling that was building up in his cheek.

"Awesome," Zoro replied calmly before he turned around and his temper exploded, " _And YOU! are REALLY starting to PISS ME OFF!_ " he roared and punched Sanji in the face. The cook fell backwards onto his bum and pouted, but stayed put anyways. It finally occurred to him that he might have gone a little too far. Kidd chuckled softly on the background and Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose. He decided that now was a good moment to wrap up the phone call.

"Sorry, but I gotta take this monkey back to its habitat," he exhaustedly sighed.

"Sounds like a wise plan, good luck," Kidd offered. Zoro smirked and hang up, turning to Sanji with a contemplating look. The idiot was hugging himself while he visibly shivered, his head hanging in between asleep and awake. Zoro had noticed the moment they walked out of Shanks' house that Sanji was poorly dressed for the weather. His coat seemed thick enough, but was not very long and was with lapel. Also, he wore low-model shoes, no gloves and nothing to cover his head and ears with.

Zoro sighed at the sight and kneeled down next to the sleepy blond. He had already anticipated that this would happen sooner or later and was just glad that Sanji managed more than halfway on his own. He snaked his arm under Sanji's arm and around his back. Surprised by the lack of objection coming from Sanji, Zoro looked at the blonde's side view to see if there was any fight in his eyes. But Sanji just distantly stared down at the concrete, relaxed countenance and jaw slacked. He wasn't bothered at all; wasn't in the mood to fight anymore, to be more precise. Zoro awkwardly removed his eyes.

"Don't pass out just yet, we're almost there," he encouraged lamely and carefully pressed up to get the cook back on his feet, to which Sanji complied. Zoro felt strangely out of place now that Sanji ran out of brawling fuel. He looked much more at ease now, but Zoro wasn't sure if that meant that he was actually open to conversation or just too tired to want to conversate, so he just settled for silence. A few minutes of peaceful silence ensued.

"Neh," Sanji started. Zoro hummed in response as he gripped Sanji's wrist tighter when it was about to slide off his shoulder.

"Did you know that the Baratie is connected in a straight line with the Sunny?" he stated randomly.

"I figured when you said it's on First Street. Why?"

"I just thought I'd let you know, since you guys are invited over this Wednesday," he shrugged. Zoro frowned. That was news to him. "It's only a ten minute walk," Sanji added.

"I'm just hearing this for the first time," Zoro said and sceptically scanned the blonde's eyes before his next question.

"Are you sure you want to invite me?" he asked. Something in Sanji's eyes changed, it went from aloof to amused and he let out a tired chuckle. Zoro frowned at this behaviour and awaited the response that was sure to be an interesting one.

"Of course, you idiot, you can't be that bad," he said and paused.

"Getting angry with me for endangering your business is something I can't blame you for. I just need a chance to make it up to you," he clarified with a hint of regret in his tone. Zoro's shoulders relaxed. This was definitely normal talk – like what normal people did. He never thought he and Sanji would be able to pull that off. He smirked, feeling a little relieved. So Sanji did care about their business and the horrible impression he left on Zoro. It suddenly didn't seem like such a bad idea to give it a shot. Maybe he and Sanji could be get along too if they just tried hard enough. Sanji had certainly apologized after the fight he started at the bar and even apologized after Fullbody's appearance. So as a matter of fact, it was now Zoro's turn to accept the apology and move on. Even though he had trouble trusting others and Sanji's attitude was a huge patience tester. But first of all, he had to take him to is house.

The next morning, Zoro got into the routine of getting ready for work while Nami's never ending complaints guided him through it. He knew he was a handful, but there was really no motivation in him to try hard for a marketing session.

"Come on, Zoro! Ace and Sabo are already downstairs!" she urged, even more impatiently now. Zoro hastily fumbled with the bow tie while shouldering the door to the hallway, where he stopped abruptly in front of an irritated Nami. She let her scrutinizing eyes wander over his whole person, making him shift in place awkwardly.

"Ehm, I'm ready," he stated lamely and rolled his eyes in an attempt to mask his discomfort. Nami's eyes travelled down to where the bow tie dangled sadly around his neck, obviously abandoned in his rush. She sighed and started adjusting the ribbon. Zoro glanced over and saw her brows furrow in concentration.

"You don't have to, it's fine," he grunted, although he was secretly endeared by her caring side. Also, he was just glad that she could get the damn thing right for him because he was a natural disaster at delicate things.

"You're the owner, at least make yourself presentable," she finished with a tug on the ribbons and a satisfied leer, pulling back to do one last inspection. As if on command, Zoro smoothed out his shirt and waited for her OK sign. She chuckled and gave him a playful wink.

"Let's go, _boss_."

They greeted the two bartenders on the ground floor and unlocked the meeting room. A long table, fitting 22 people resided there in the middle of the rectangular space. It always looked quite lonely with just the four of them housing it. Nami sat down at the head of the table, Zoro on her right and Ace on her left. Sabo sat down next to Zoro. Immediately, Zoro slumped down in his chair and folded his arms, groaning childishly before the session even started. Nami pulled out her paperwork and scowled at his behavior, that was obviously aimed to annoy her.

"Complain and I'll increase your loan," she warned, to which Ace and Sabo chuckled. Ace rested his cheek on his fist and tapped lightly on the table to get Zoro's attention, who looked up with a hum in response.

"Did you have trouble taking Sanji home last night?" he asked.

"A little. He was drunk out of his mind," Zoro answered with a light chuckle. Sabo and Ace both raised their brows in mild surprise. Nami also briefly looked up from her paperwork.

"How come I don't hear your endless cursing on the topic of taking a drunk Sanji back to his house?" she wondered out loud.

"Did you guys finally make peace?" Sabo inquired as he leaned onto his elbows to get a better look at Zoro. Zoro thought for a bit. He and Sanji didn't exactly shake hands on it, and to be honest, Zoro wasn't even sure if Sanji remembered saying that he wanted a chance. But even if he didn't, the facts remained the same; Sanji wanted a second chance.

"It's worth giving a shot," he shrugged indifferently, making Sabo grin and Nami's countenance lighten up. She brought her fist up to her lips and cleared her throat.

"Okay, I'm all set," she announced and Ace immediately straightened up while Sabo took out a notepad and pencil. Zoro however only sunk deeper into his chair, earning himself a sideways glare from Nami.

"I didn't do my homework," Zoro confessed without as much as a blink.

"As expected," she sighed.

"You're a real disaster, Zoro," Ace helpfully pointed out.

"But it doesn't matter… We're here for a different reason," Nami droned, suddenly appearing a little nervous. The bartenders exchanged looks of confusion, trying to figure if the other knew what was going on. The redhead stacked the papers, folding her hands on top of it as all eyes were back on her again.

"As we are all aware, we're in a bit of a crisis right now," she started, efficiently zipping up the confusion from just seconds ago. They all knew where this was going and had to admit that they've been dying to take action.

"We've had a little incident last Saturday involving government official Fullbody who has given us a sneak peek at our vulnerable state. We should be grateful for the heads up, really. The government is surely going to make its move soon. We need a plan," she trailed off, eyeing every single one of the men seriously before she added, "Allies, to be precise."

Realization struck Zoro as he saw the phone call he and Kidd had the night before in a different light. Zoro pursed his lips as Nami's eyes at last searched his.

"Are there any objections?" she inquired.

"None here…" Sabo spoke softly. Nami turned to Ace who had closed his eyes in thought and opened them again to give her an unreadable expression. Nami held her breath in anticipation.

"None either," he voted. At last, her eyes searched Zoro's, who gave her a strict look of slight disappointment, but sighed in defeat.

"I'd really appreciate it if you discuss this sort of thing beforehand… Fine, let them in," he gave his consent. She seemed to have confirmed something in her head and pulled back her sleeve with her index finger to glance at her watch.

"I need you guys to behave," she clarified strictly and raised her arm, snapping her fingers. "Gentlemen, come in."

The boys braced themselves and turned their heads around just as the door creaked open and Kidd walked in, followed by a dozen other men. The competitive tension immediately lay heavy in the air around them. Zoro's heartrate increased gradually against his chest as he inspected each and every gangster that came through, their footsteps echoing through the empty room. Some of them familiar faces and big names, others people he had never heard of before, which wasn't necessarily a good thing either. As long as some specific people weren't amongst them, it would be alright. Once the last one walked in and securely shut the door behind him, Zoro only slightly relaxed. His secret would now most likely not be revealed or endangered.

An eerie silence followed as all candidates glared each other down. Zoro knew that gangsters meeting in secret to form alliances typically ended up in carnage and he didn't fail to notice that every single person had at least one weapon on them. If he had known this would happen, he would never have left his sword in the training hall downstairs. His eyes finally locked on Kidd's. The redhead was looking right back at him with a sickening smirk plastered on his face. Zoro's adrenaline was pumping and he couldn't help but slip up, smugly matching his glare with a maniacal grin.

This was it.


End file.
